The wife of a jailed Al Jazeera journalist charged by Madrid with belonging to Al Qaida said on Thursday that Spain's prisons had become "another Guantanamo" after authorities isolated suspected militants. Fatima Hamed said her husband Tayseer Alouni, best known for interviewing Osama Bin Laden shortly after the September 11, 2001 attacks on the United States, had been placed in solitary confinement on Wednesday without his lawyer being notified. Spanish authorities are isolating suspected militants in an attempt to stem the spread of radicalism in jails. A spokeswoman for the prison system confirmed Alouni and some 85 other suspects were being held in isolation. Alouni must eat meals in his cell and can only exercise alone on the prison patio for one hour a day despite ill health, his wife said. Investigative judge Baltazar Garzon has charged the well-known journalist, who holds Spanish nationality, with providing money and information to Al Qaida and recruiting fighters. Alouni says he is innocent. "I found out they had moved him to another prison when he called me yesterday," Fatima said in a telephone interview. "He told me he is in a cell without any heating, despite the cold, and he has problems with his back and heart. This is like Guantanamo with a make-over," she said in reference to the US military prison in Guantanamo Bay in Cuba where "enemy combatants" are denied protection normally given to prisoners of war.
The prison system spokeswoman said all cells had heating although no radiator was visible. Syrian-born Alouni, a father of five, was first arrested in September 2003 at his home in Granada but was bailed for medical reasons around a month later due to a serious heart condition. He was re-arrested earlier this month for fear he may flee. Fatima said her husband had been due to undergo hospital treatment for his heart condition on Sunday and had not received similar medical attention in prison. The reporter's initial arrest sparked outrage among Arab human rights groups, journalists and colleagues at Qatar-based Al Jazeera, who called it an attack on press freedom.