The life of the political detainee and leader of the Tunisian Ennahda Movement, Sahbi Ateek, is at risk after completing 54 days of hunger strike in a raw, demanding his release.
His lawyer Samir Dilo stated that he is currently “between life and death,” noting that “the investigative judge is in a holiday until next August, which indicates the unimportance of the human life of detainees.”
He added that “injustice can only be served by an impartial judiciary.”
On May 6, 2023, the Tunisian authorities prevented Ateek from travelling to Turkey to participate in a conference. The security stopped him on charges raised against him on money laundering, which is a common charge used by the regime against its opponents.
Ateek’s wife, Zainab Al-Maraihi, stressed that her husband went on a hunger strike to “protest against the injustice he is facing, including his unfair detention and slander in a fabricated case.”
Al-Maraihi held the investigating judge of the case responsible for her husband’s life, emphasising that there has been no progress in the case.
Al-Sahbi Ateek has been on hunger strike since his arrest, to demand his release, denying all the charges against him.
Ateek’s hunger strike and the deterioration of his health condition require immediate intervention to protect his right to life and provide him with adequate health care.
Ateek’s travel ban and detention on suspicious charges raises serious concerns over the impartiality of the Tunisian judiciary, which tries dissidents on fabricated charges to discredit them.
