Tunisian businessman Lazhar Sta dies after health deteriorates in prison

Tunisian businessman Lazhar Sta, who was being held in connection with a financial case, died at Charles Nicolle Hospital in Tunis, his daughter Amina Sta said in an Instagram post.

Amina said her father died around midnight after being transferred from Mornaguia Prison in critical condition on the evening of Saturday, 5 September 2026. She said he had been suffering from several illnesses and that prison conditions, including high temperatures and limited water supplies, had worsened his health.

She accused the authorities of negligence and said she would take legal action before international courts against those responsible for the deterioration of her father’s health and his subsequent death.

She also criticised the authorities for failing to inform the family immediately after his death and for not telling them that he had fallen into a coma on Monday. She said procedures followed by the prison administration and the Justice Ministry were being implemented in an “inhumane” manner.

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Amina said medical staff at the hospital had done everything possible to save her father.

The case comes amid wider concerns over conditions in Tunisian prisons. Bassam Trifi, head of the Tunisian League for the Defence of Human Rights, said the group had documented 20 deaths in Tunisian prisons in recent weeks linked to high temperatures, which have at times exceeded 45C.

Trifi said already difficult prison conditions, including poor ventilation and overcrowding, had worsened during the heatwave, describing the situation as amounting to “torture”.

Rights groups said the capacity of some prisons had reached about 300 per cent, amid poor ventilation, the spread of disease and inadequate healthcare.

In Kairouan, the league said a 50-year-old prisoner had died of a heat-related stroke, while another prisoner died at Mornaguia Prison in Tunis after suffocating due to the extreme heat.

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