Tunis – Tunisian prisons and the political arena witnessed a widespread wave of protests on Monday. A number of political prisoners, including leaders of the Ennahda movement and the National Salvation Front, began a three-day hunger strike to protest what they described as the “deprivation of freedoms” and the lack of judicial independence.
The defense team for Rached Ghannouchi, the head of the Ennahda movement and one of the most prominent leaders of the Muslim Brotherhood in Tunisia, announced in a statement that he has officially begun a hunger strike on December 22, 23 and 24, 2025. It indicated that this step came in response to the call of political activist Ayachi Hammami, and also to express the categorical rejection of unfair trials and to demand an independent judiciary.
The Ennahda movement confirmed that its leader, Rached Ghannouchi, and his deputy, Ali Laarayedh, were participating in the hunger strike from inside their prison cells. The movement described this action as a “peaceful struggle” to restore fundamental rights.
The National Salvation Front, the largest opposition bloc, announced its full solidarity with the detainees, describing their cells as having “turned into arenas of struggle against tyranny.”
Lawyer Ayachi Hammami indicated that the strike aims to highlight the “precarious” legal situation of the opposition. Meanwhile, the National Salvation Front described the politicians’ detention as “arrest by a judiciary lacking independence and completely subservient to the executive branch.”
