Tunisian opposition leader who was imprisoned experienced severe violence, according to his attorney
Jawhar Ben Mbarek, a jailed opposition leader in Tunisia, was accused by his family and attorneys on Wednesday of being violently attacked by prison officials in an attempt to put a stop to his two-week-old hunger strike.
One of President Kais Saied’s most well-known opponents, Ben Mbarek, was arrested in 2023 and convicted this year to 18 years in prison on suspicion of plotting to topple the president. He has denied the accusations, claiming they were false.
Ben Mbarek was subjected to torture. His attorney, Hanen Khmiri, stated, “We observed fractures and bruises on his body, and he was severely beaten.” “He told me that four of the prison guards beat him severely in a place where there is no surveillance camera.”
Requests for response from Reuters were not answered by the prison administration. This week, it disputed that the health of the hunger-striking captives was getting worse.
Despite the beating, Ben Mbarek has continued his hunger strike, according to his family and attorneys.
His demonstration is a part of a larger wave of hunger strikes by at least five opposition leaders who are imprisoned, including Reda Belhaj, Abdelhamid Jlassi, Issam Chebbi, and Rached Ghannouchi, the 84-year-old leader of the main opposition Ennahda party.
The detainees claim the charges against them were made up and are calling for their release.
According to Ben Mbarek’s father, who has stated that he holds Saied accountable for any harm his son experiences, he had informed the prison about Saied’s treatment.
“The prison director promised me to investigate the allegations,” he stated.
Amid what critics claim is a sharp return to authoritarian governance, rights organizations have frequently charged Saied’s government with using the courts to stifle dissent.
Saied refutes the charges, claiming that the judiciary is independent. Saied took over most of the government in 2021 and then started governing by decree, a move the opposition called a coup.
He accuses opposition leaders of being terrorists, mercenaries, and traitors, and he has claimed that judges who find them not guilty are complicit in their crimes.
