Five Tunisian political detainees entered into an open hunger strike, to protest their arrest in the case of conspiring against state security.
Issam Al-Shabi, Abdel Hamid Al-Jalassi, Ghazi Chaouachi, Khayyam Al-Turki, and Reda Belhaj began the hunger strike, in protest against the continuation of “the judicial farce to deprive them of their freedom for many months without providing any evidence of the accusations against them.”
The five strikers joined Ennahdha Party leader Rached Ghannouchi, who announced the start of a hunger strike last Friday, in solidarity with National Salvation Front member Johar Ben Mubarak, who went on a hunger strike several days ago demanding the release of all political detainees.
Since July 25, Tunisia has been suffering from a political crisis, following the imposition of extraordinary measures, including freezing the Parliament, issuing legislation by presidential decrees, dismissing the Prime Minister, and appointing a new one, and dissolving the Supreme Judicial Council.
Since then, academics, political activists, media figures, and human rights and media outlets in Tunisia have been subjected to security restrictions and prosecutions, arrests, and judicial prosecutions.
