Harare — Abir Moussi, a prominent adversary of Tunisian President Kais Saied, began a hunger strike in prison on Tuesday, November 28, in protest of what her attorneys claims is an infringement on her freedom of speech and political participation, Reuters reports.

In a crackdown on opposition lawmakers, Moussi was detained by police outside the presidential palace entrance on charges of assault with the intent to provoke disturbance. As a result, a judge in October 2023 ordered her incarceration.

The Free Constitutional Party (PDL), which Moussi leads, issued a statement cautioning against the fabrication of legal obstacles to prevent her participation in the 2024 presidential elections.

In a statement, Moussi's attorneys said that she would go on a 16-day hunger strike in support of a campaign to draw attention to violence against women in Tunisia.

More than 20 prominent politicians were imprisoned by police in 2023, with others allegedly involved in plots against state security. The president has called those those who are imprisoned, terrorists, traitors, and criminals.

Saied, a retired law professor, who won the 2019 presidential election, tried to impose government by decree in 2021 after the elected parliament was disbanded, a move that his detractors referred to as a coup.