Tunisians launch hunger strike in solidarity with judiciary

People gather for sit-in protest against Tunisian President Kais Saied’s ‘extraordinary decisions’ in Tunis, Tunisia on 17 December 2021. [Yassine Gaidi – Anadolu Agency]

The Tunisians for the State initiative yesterday announced that its members have started a 24-hour hunger strike in solidarity with the country’s judicial authority and in defence of its independence.

“We stand in solidarity with the judicial establishment in general and the Supreme Judicial Council, which is facing a campaign of sabotage and systematic distortion from the coup leader [President Kais Saied] and the propaganda militias in preparation for its dissolution,” the initiative said in a statement published on its Facebook page.

The initiative demanded the immediate release of Noureddine El-Bhiri, deputy leader of the Ennahda Movement and Fathi El-Baladi, a former interior minister.

Last Monday, Tunisian Interior Minister Taoufiq Sharaf El-Din announced that El-Bhiri and El-Baladi had been placed under house arrest on “suspicion of terrorism”.

The Ennahda movement, El-Bhiri’s family and his defence team rejected the accusations, describing them as “politicised”.

Tunisia prosecutor rejects request to arrest Ennahda deputy chief: Adviser

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