Rached Ghannouchi, the leader of the opposition Ennahda party, began a hunger strike on Monday 19 February to protest against the detention of opponents in Tunisia and to express his support for them, his movement announced. Ednews reports referring to Le Monde.
Detained since 17 April 2023, Mr Ghannouchi, 82, "has decided to go on hunger strike [...] in solidarity with [other] prisoners on hunger strike and to support all opponents [incarcerated] in the country's various prisons", the Islamo-conservative party said in a statement.
Several imprisoned political figures, including Jawhar Ben Mbarek and Issam Chebbi, leaders of the National Salvation Front (FSN, the main opposition coalition), have been on hunger strike for eight days to demand their release. Denouncing "unfounded arbitrary prosecutions" and the government's desire to keep opponents off the political scene, these figures had already been on hunger strike for several days in September. Most of the imprisoned opponents are charged with "plotting against state security".
Mr Ghannouchi, whose party dominated the governments of the last decade after the 2011 revolt that toppled the dictatorship of Zine El-Abidine Ben Ali, is the most notorious opponent imprisoned since President Saïed's coup to assume full power in July 2021. Since February 2023, more than twenty opponents, businessmen and other personalities described as "terrorists" by Mr Saïed have been imprisoned on charges of "plotting against internal security".