Overview
- Lawyers said Rached Ghannouchi, 84, began refusing food in prison, joining Jawhar Ben Mbarek and Issam Chebbi in a widening protest against their detention.
- Ben Mbarek launched his strike late last month and, according to family and rights groups, his health has sharply deteriorated as he refuses treatment.
- The Tunisian Prisons Authority publicly denied any medical decline among hunger strikers, saying examinations showed conditions were normal and stable.
- Opposition parties and relatives announced solidarity actions, with Al Joumhouri leaders and family members joining strikes and the party’s Tunis headquarters opened as a gathering point.
- The actions come after courts this year issued sentences of five to 66 years for opposition figures in cases critics say target government opponents, a characterization President Kais Saied rejects.