Tunisia Faces Return to Authoritarianism as Ghannouchi Joins Hunger Strike in Solidarity with Jailed Opposition Leaders

Tunisia Faces Return to Authoritarianism as Ghannouchi Joins Hunger Strike in Solidarity with Jailed Opposition Leaders
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More than a decade after leading the Arab Spring uprisings, Tunisia is witnessing what observers describe as a “reproduction of dictatorship.”

More details in the following report:

Rached Ghannouchi, the imprisoned leader of the Ennahda Movement, has begun a hunger strike in solidarity with detained opposition figures protesting political repression.

According to Middle East News, Ghannouchi launched his strike in support of Jawhar Ben Mubarak, a leader of the National Salvation Front, and Issam Chebbi, head of the Republican Party of Tunisia—both of whom have been on indefinite hunger strikes in prison. Annahar newspaper reported that Ben Mubarak’s health has seriously deteriorated, according to his family and lawyers.

Ghannouchi, who has been imprisoned since 2023, is serving a 37-year sentence on charges of “conspiracy against state security” and “receiving illegal foreign funding.” He has repeatedly denounced Tunisia’s judiciary as lacking independence and operating under the control of President Kais Saied.

Earlier this year, Tunisian courts sentenced several opposition leaders—including Ben Mubarak and Chebbi—to prison terms ranging from five to 66 years on similar charges. Human rights groups and opposition parties condemned the trials as politically motivated and aimed at silencing dissent.

Analysts warn that the widespread arrests and convictions of government critics mark a sharp regression toward authoritarian rule in the country once seen as the Arab Spring’s only democratic success story.

Ghannouchi’s hunger strike, observers say, represents a symbolic act of resistance against political persecution and an appeal to the international community to address Tunisia’s deteriorating human rights situation. The ongoing clampdown has raised growing alarm about the erosion of civil liberties, the weakening of democratic institutions, and the consolidation of one-man rule under President Saied.