Tunisian doctors have expressed concern about the health of Noureddine Bhiri, the deputy chairman of the Ennahda party, who has been refusing food or medication since his arrest last week, a human rights body announced.
The 63-year-old former justice minister, who was arrested on Friday by plainclothes officers on suspicion of “terrorism” offenses, was hospitalized on Sunday due to several pre-existing medical conditions.
His lawyers have rejected the allegations as “totally false”.
Bhiri’s wife, Saida Akremi, and children have started a sit-in at the hospital where the politician was admitted. Akremi insisted that she will not leave the hospital unless her husband is with her.
Tunisia’s Independent National Body for the Prevention of Torture (INPT) said three of its medics had visited Bhiri on Wednesday afternoon.
Earlier on Thursday, he consented to receive a fluid and medication drip, “but later he refused again”, INPT official Lotfi Ezzedine said.
The INPT and doctors at Bizerte hospital, where he is currently being treated, have “grave fears” about his health deteriorating, while Bhiri’s party has called for his release and denounced his detention as an illegitimate attempt to silence political opposition in the country.
Last year, President Kais Saied dismissed the Ennahdha-supported government and suspended parliament, proclaimed himself the ultimate constitutional power, and seized power by decree, actions that his opponents branded as a coup.
add your comment
Terms of publication : Not to offend the writer, people, sacred things, or attack religions or the divine self, and refrain from racist incitement and insults.