Tunisian police have arrested prominent opposition figure Ayachi Hammami at his home to enforce a five-year prison term on a conviction for conspiracy against state security.
Hammami, a former human rights minister, was among dozens of opposition leaders, business figures, and lawyers handed down jail terms of up to 45 years last week.
In a video posted on his Facebook page, Hammami announced he would go on hunger strike, stating, “I have spent years fighting for democracy, freedom, rights. I will turn my cell into a new front of struggle.” The opposition claims the charges are fabricated, aiming to crush President Kais Saied’s critics through the judiciary.
Rights groups, including Human Rights Watch and Amnesty International, condemn the sentences as politically driven and call for their immediate annulment.
Saied’s government denies interfering with the judiciary, stating that no one is above the law.
