Jawhar Ben Mbarek, a prominent Tunisian opposition figure, was hospitalised for severe dehydration after more than two weeks on hunger strike, his family said. Ben Mbarek, a cofounder of the National Salvation Front, began the strike on October 29 to protest his detention since February 2023.
In a Facebook post, his sister Dalila Ben Mbarek Msaddek said his condition had “severely deteriorated” and that doctors had detected a “highly dangerous toxin” affecting his kidneys. She said he was transferred to hospital on Thursday night, was given treatment but refused nutritional supplements, and insisted on continuing the hunger strike. The family reported that he was discharged on Friday afternoon and returned to prison.
Ben Mbarek’s lawyer, Hanen Khmiri, told journalists the politician had suffered violent treatment by prison guards at Belli prison as they tried to force him to end his protest. Khmiri said she saw fractures and bruises on his body and that he told her four guards had beaten him in an area without surveillance cameras. She said she filed a complaint with the public prosecutor, who pledged to investigate.
Ben Mbarek is one of the most visible critics of President Kais Saied. In April he was sentenced to 18 years in prison on charges including “conspiracy against state security” and “belonging to a terrorist group” in a mass trial of opposition figures that rights groups say was politically motivated. Ben Mbarek denies the charges. He has previously been active in the “Citizens Against Coup” campaign and other opposition initiatives.
Human rights organisations have warned of a decline in civil liberties in Tunisia since Saied’s actions in July 2021, when he dissolved parliament and assumed expanded executive powers. Those measures were later consolidated in a new constitution ratified in a widely boycotted 2022 referendum. Media workers and lawyers critical of the president have also faced prosecutions under a broad “fake news” law enacted the same year.
Last week Ben Mbarek’s family and several opposition figures announced they would join a collective hunger strike. Among those named were Issam Chebbi, leader of the centrist Republican (Al Joumhouri) Party, and Rached Ghannouchi, leader of the Ennahdha party, both of whom are also detained after convictions in the same mass trial; their current health status has not been confirmed.
Prison authorities said detainees remain under “continuous medical supervision” and denied reports of any deterioration in the health of inmates. The situation remains tense as supporters and rights groups call for scrutiny of Ben Mbarek’s treatment and the broader crackdown on dissent.