Imprisoned Tunisian opposition leader Rached Ghannouchi has commenced a hunger strike in solidarity with fellow anti-government figures who are protesting their detention and demanding immediate release, according to a group of opposition lawyers. Ghannouchi, 82, a vocal critic of President Kais Saied and leader of the Ennahda main opposition party, was imprisoned last year on charges of incitement against police and plotting against state security. In a separate case earlier this month, he received a three-year prison sentence on charges of accepting external financing.
The opposition argues that President Saied’s abrupt closure of the elected parliament in 2021 and his shift to ruling by decree constitute a coup. President Saied, who solidified his expanded constitutional powers through a referendum with low turnout in 2022, denies the coup allegations, asserting that his actions were necessary to save Tunisia from prolonged chaos.
Last week, six opposition leaders arrested last year initiated an open-ended hunger strike to protest their imprisonment without trial and demand immediate release. They are calling for an end to judicial prosecutions against politicians, journalists, and civil society activists, and urging an end to intimidation and threats against judges.
The detained leaders—Jawher Ben Mbarak, Khayam Turki, Ghazi Chaouachi, Issam Chabbi, Abdelhamid Jalasi, and Rida Belhaj—were held on suspicion of plotting against state security. The opposition accuses President Saied of suppressing the press and implementing authoritarian rule, asserting that his constitutional changes undermine the democracy established after the 2011 revolution. President Saied, however, rejects these accusations, labeling his critics as criminals, traitors, and terrorists, and warning that any judge releasing them would be considered abetting them. Ghannouchi, amidst his hunger strike, is urging Tunisians to support a democratic Tunisia based on freedom and judicial independence.
