Jailed Tunisian opposition leader Rached Ghannouchi reportedly lost consciousness in Mornaguia prison this week amid high temperatures, according to an account from the daughter of another detained political figure.
Haifa Chebbi, the daughter of imprisoned politician Ahmed Nejib Chebbi, said in a video posted on Facebook on Tuesday that she witnessed the incident involving the 85-year-old Ghannouchi during a prison visit. Chebbi stated that the temperature inside the facility reached 52 degrees Celsius (126 degrees Fahrenheit).
In her video, Chebbi described conditions at the prison, saying detainees are confined to cells approximately 16 square meters in size for most of the day and are permitted two hours outside. She also stated that prison staff were providing what care they could, particularly for elderly inmates.
Ghannouchi, the leader of the Ennahda party and a former speaker of parliament, has been in custody since April 2023. He was briefly hospitalized on April 30 for health reasons before being returned to Mornaguia prison.
The account of Ghannouchi’s condition came from Haifa Chebbi during a visit to her 81-year-old father, Ahmed Nejib Chebbi. He is a co-founder of the National Salvation Front (FSN), a coalition of opposition groups formed in 2022. He is among dozens of opposition figures charged with “conspiracy against state security.”
International bodies have commented on the legal proceedings involving opposition members in Tunisia. In a previous statement regarding the arrests, United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Turk said the process was “marred by violations of fair trial and due process rights.”
During her video statement, Haifa Chebbi named several other detained opposition figures, including lawyers Abir Moussi and Ayachi Hammami, journalist Ziad El Hani, and activist Chaima Issa. She linked the detentions to wider public concerns in Tunisia, including utility shortages, and called on citizens to pursue political change.
