Tunis/Tunisia — Six detainees in the case of "conspiracy against state security" said they will begin a hunger strike on Monday to demand their release and "stop all legal prosecutions against all politicians and civil society activists".
The detainees, Issam Chebbi , Jaouher Ben M'barek, Ghazi Chaouachi, Khayam Turki, Abdelhamid Jelassi and Ridha Belhaj, called in a joint statement for "ending all interference in the judiciary and respecting its authority and independence... as the sole guarantor of justice and the rule of law".
They called on "all living forces to unite their efforts and raise their voices loudly to put an end to the policy of harassment and intimidation, to release all prisoners of conscience and to cleanse the political climate in general".
The case of "conspiracy against state security" dates back to February 2023, when a number of politicians, civil society activists and lawyers were arrested on charges of "forming a criminal association with the aim of conspiring against internal and external state security".
