In Tunisia, this Sunday marks the 14th day of the hunger strike of five political opponents imprisoned for more than a year in a case of alleged conspiracy against state security. They have still not had a trial and the Ministry of Justice has brandished the secrecy of the investigation. For the families of these detainees, the wait is increasingly difficult, especially since one of them, the constitutionalist and opponent of Kaïs Saïed, Jaouhar Ben Mbarek, was sentenced to six months in prison on Saturday, in the context of another matter. Dalila Ben Mbarek Msaddek, his sister who is his lawyer, also started a hunger strike in support of her brother.
In the premises of the Al Joumhouri party, a small left-wing party, this Sunday, February 25, the families of detainees on hunger strike are preparing a silent march, in support of their loved ones.
Dalila Ben Mbarek Msaddek has refused to eat since Saturday evening, after learning that her brother Jaouhar Ben Mbarek, arrested a year ago, was the subject of a new conviction in court. It follows a complaint filed by the body in charge of elections, the ISIE, based on Decree 54 which punishes the dissemination of false information.
“ Based on an interview he did in November 2022, talking about the legislative elections, he said, these are not political elections, they are masquerade elections. It is a political opinion that he gave on these elections. He did not talk about the ISIE, nor the members of the ISIE, nor the organization of the elections, nor anything at all,” explains Dalila Ben Mbarek Msaddek.
For his sister and his other lawyers who had requested a postponement of the hearing, it was a shock. “ It is the reason and the heart that are affected at the same time! I am experiencing injustice on a procedural and legislative level and I am experiencing injustice on a personal, family, and emotional level! »
This Sunday, after more than a year of mobilization and protests, the families of the detainees chose silence to demonstrate. They put tape over their mouths and fake handcuffs on their hands…
A peaceful march and a symbolic protest against what they denounce as injustice and political relentlessness in their words.
And new convictions against opponents are piling up. Friday evening, Moncef Marzouki, the former Tunisian president, resident in France, was sentenced to eight years in prison in absentia, found guilty of having wanted to ” change the form of government “, of ” inciting people to arm each other ” and “ provoke disorder and pillage ” in the country. In 2021, he had already been sentenced to four years in prison for endangering state security abroad.
