Tunisia: Sixty activists join political prisoners hunger strike

Sixty Tunisian activists embarked on a one-day hunger strike Wednesday, 4 October, in protest of arbitrary arrests and unfair trials targeting Tunisian president Kais Saied's opponents.

"We call on all democratic and progressive forces, parties, organizations, and every free citizen to raise awareness in order to bear their historical responsibility in saving the country from economic and social collapse, confronting the dominance of populist tyranny, and restoring this people's dream of a Tunisia of freedom and dignity," wrote the opposition party of Republicans Tuesday.

Five senior imprisoned Tunisian politicians joined a hunger strike wave on Monday as a crackdown on opposition continues.

The Defence Authority for Political Detainees in Tunisia identified the latest hunger strikers as Issam Chebbi, secretary-general of the Tunisian Republican Party. Ghazi Chaouachi, Abdel Hamid Jlassi, Khayam Turki and Ridha Belhaj.

The growing wave of hunger strikes began with Jouahar Ben M'barek, who announced on 26 September his strike in protest of his arbitrary arrest.

Once a government adviser, Ben M'barek is a prominent member of the opposition coalition, the National Salvation Front (NSF) and leader of the Citizens Against the Coup movement, both formed in response to Saied's power grab. 

Ennahda Party leader Rached Ghannouchi followed Ben M'barek's steps, which triggered nationwide hunger strikes among the victims of Siaed's February witch hunt. 

Besides Ghannouchi, all the strikers have been imprisoned since February without trial over "conspiracy against the state security."

A Tunisian court sentenced Ghannouchi, one of the leading opponents of President Kais Saied, to one year in prison on 15 May on terrorism-related charges after he was arrested on 17 April over accusations of "plotting against state security".

Ghannouchi, whose health situation has been unstable since his arrest, announced that his hunger strike would last only three days. 

Meanwhile, other strikers had embarked on an indefinite hunger strike, saying they hold the authorities fully responsible for their safety. Tunisian authorities have yet to comment on the latest hunger strike. 

Dalia Mossadeq, Ben Mbarek's sister and a member of the Defence Committee for Political Detainees, told Al-Araby, the Arabic-language sister publication for The New Arab, that there is widespread public support for the strikes. 

Despite the strike, Tunisian authorities have continued their censorship of opposition with the latest arrest of Abir Moussi, the leader of the Free Destourian Party (PDL), one of the main Tunisian opposition groups.

She was placed in pre-trial detention on Tuesday, 3 October, after being arrested in front of the presidential palace. The reasons for his arrest remained unknown for the time being, said her party's lawyer.

In February, Amnesty International described Saied's crackdown against his political opponents as "a politically motivated witch hunt."

The Committee for Respect for Freedoms and Human Rights in Tunisia has called for a general hunger strike on 5 October to demand the release of all political detainees.