Tunisian opposition activists languish in jail amid worsening health conditions

Some of Tunisia’s most significant opposition activists and politicians are languishing in prison with injuries and health issues, while others are going on hunger strikes to protest their conditions.

Issam Chebbi, the General Secretary of the centrist-liberal Republican Party, reportedly has a broken leg whilst in prison, which his wife ​​Faiza Rahem stated on social media.

​​Rahem said she visited her husband along with other family members on Thursday, and found Chebbi with a broken leg and in a cast, as well as using a pair of crutches.

“Today, Thursday, August 13, 2026, during the weekly visit, we were startled to see him behind the glass partition with a pair of crutches; his leg was broken and in a cast—I cannot even begin to describe the feeling that overcame us," she posted on her Facebook account.

Rahem said she found Chebbi with his arm in a sling during a visit on 30 July, two weeks prior, alluding to the dire conditions opposition activists and politicians are exposed to, and the lack of medical care.

"As always, the moment he saw us, he sought to put us at ease, greeting us with his trademark smile and unwavering composure and high spirits: "I'm fine; it's nothing," Reham continued. 

She said that they "know that everything is God’s will and decree," but in moments like these, “one feels a profound sense of injustice, anguish, and helplessness in the face of the oppression inflicted upon Issam and other detainees”.

In her post, Raham noted that Chebbi sought to reassure his family, greeting them warmly and insisting that the injury was "minor".

"Under such circumstances, he ought to be surrounded by his family, receiving proper medical treatment and care," she added.

"Instead, a malicious conspiracy charge — based on anonymous sources — has led to nearly four years of imprisonment under an unjust, authoritarian, and one-man rule that spares neither women nor men," she continued.

In recent weeks, alarm has been raised over the conditions of imprisoned opposition members and activists in Tunisia, jailed amid President Kais Saied’s increasingly authoritarian rule and clamp down on critics and what he calls "traitors and terrorists". Among them is the opposition party Ennahda's president Rachid Ghannouchi, who had fainted in prison last month, according to reports.

Chebbi was arrested in February 2023 as part of what Tunisian authorities called a "conspiracy against state security" case.

Prosecutors accused him of "plotting to destabilise the country and overthrow or undermine President Saied's authority".

The charges brought against Chebbi include conspiracy against the internal and external security of the state.

In April last year, he was handed an 18-year-long sentence, along with politicians and activists Ghazi Chaouachi, Jawahar Ben Mbrak and Ridha Belhaj.

Chebbi was previously held at Mornaguia Prison near Tunis, where his brother, Ahmed Nejib Chebbi, and Ghannouchi are also imprisoned. However, he was reportedly transferred in May 2025 to Borj Erroumi without his family or lawyers being notified in advance.

In 2024, Chebbi was suggested as a potential presidential candidate to counter Saied in the presidential elections of that year. Saied won the election, beating out Ayachi Zammel with a reported 90% win.

Also in Tunisia, the prominent lawyer and activist Chawki Tabib has gone on a hunger strike in prison to protest his imprisonment, his wife said, according to Tunisian media reports.

Mariem Ben Azzouz said that the former head of the Tunisian bar association and ex-chief of Tunisia's National Anti-Corruption Authority was carrying out his hunger strike in protest against injustice he perceives in his case. Ben Azzouz also expressed concern about the impact of this latest protest action on his health, asking: "How much of one's health, dignity, and life must be sacrificed for one's voice to be heard?"

Tabib was jailed in March this year for 10 years on charges including "forging documents" and "possessing and using forged documents".

Tabib's anti-graft body was dissolved in 2021 after a sweeping power grab by Saied, described by rights groups as a trigger in a major rollback of press freedom and freedom of expression.