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Tunisian Opposition Detainees Start Hunger Strike in Prison

Six Tunisian opposition figures began an open hunger strike on Monday. (Tunisian media) 
Six Tunisian opposition figures began an open hunger strike on Monday. (Tunisian media) 
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Tunisian Opposition Detainees Start Hunger Strike in Prison

Six Tunisian opposition figures began an open hunger strike on Monday. (Tunisian media) 
Six Tunisian opposition figures began an open hunger strike on Monday. (Tunisian media) 

Six Tunisian opposition figures began an open hunger strike on Monday to denounce their one-year detention without formal charges or trial.

The detainees, held on charges of incitement and "plotting against state security", released a statement asking for their immediate release. They also demanded authorities to terminate the security and judicial prosecutions of all politicians and civil society activists who also suffer injustice.

In the statement, the six detainees demanded that the authorities cease meddling in judicial affairs, “stop threatening judges and intimidating defense lawyers held for expressing freedom of speech.”

The detainees include politician Khayam Turki, dissident and politician Abdelhamid Jlassi, Secretary-General of the Republican Party, lawyer Issam Chebbi, former Secretary-General of the Tayyar Party, lawyer Ghazi Chaouachi and lawyer Ridha Belhadj.

They also include leading member of the National Salvation Front and law professor Jaouhar Ben Mbarek.

Ben Mbarek’s sister, Dalida, who is a lawyer and member of the detainees' defense team, said: “The detainees consider themselves prisoners and hostages in the Mornaguia Prison as they have been detained for 356 days without a committing a crime. To date, there has been no evidence that any of the detainees had committed a crime.”

The opposition accuses President Kais Saied, who overhauled the political system in 2021 “to rectify the course of the revolution and combat corruption”, of fabricating charges against political dissidents and pressuring the judiciary.

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Italy Plans to Return Ambassador to Syria to Reflect New Diplomatic Developments, Minister Says

Italy's Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani speaks while meeting with members of the G7, on July 11, 2024, during the NATO summit in Washington. (AP)
Italy's Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani speaks while meeting with members of the G7, on July 11, 2024, during the NATO summit in Washington. (AP)
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Italy Plans to Return Ambassador to Syria to Reflect New Diplomatic Developments, Minister Says

Italy's Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani speaks while meeting with members of the G7, on July 11, 2024, during the NATO summit in Washington. (AP)
Italy's Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani speaks while meeting with members of the G7, on July 11, 2024, during the NATO summit in Washington. (AP)

Italy plans to send an ambassador back to Syria after a decade-long absence, the country’s foreign minister said, in a diplomatic move that could spark divisions among European Union allies.

Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani, speaking in front of relevant parliamentary committees Thursday, announced Rome’s intention to re-establish diplomatic ties with Syria to prevent Russia from monopolizing diplomatic efforts in the Middle Eastern country.

Moscow is considered a key supporter of Syrian President Bashar Assad, who has remained in power despite widespread Western isolation and civilian casualties since the start of Syria’s civil war in March 2011.

Peaceful protests against the Assad government — part of the so-called “Arab Spring” popular uprisings that spread across some of the Middle East — were met by a brutal crackdown, and the uprising quickly spiraled into a full-blown civil war.

The conflict was further complicated by the intervention of foreign forces on all sides and a rising militancy, first by al-Qaida-linked groups and then the ISIS group until its defeat on the battlefield in 2019.

The war, which has killed nearly half a million people and displaced half the country’s pre-war population of 23 million, is now largely frozen, despite ongoing low-level fighting.

The country is effectively carved up into areas controlled by the Damascus-based government of Assad, various opposition groups and Syrian Kurdish forces.

In the early days of the conflict, many Western and Arab countries cut off relations with Syria, including Italy, which has since managed Syria-related diplomacy through its embassy in Beirut.

However, since Assad has regained control over most of the territory, neighboring Arab countries have gradually restored relations, with the most symbolically significant move coming last year when Syria was re-admitted to the Arab League.

Tajani said Thursday the EU’s policy in Syria should be adapted to the “development of the situation,” adding that Italy has received support from Austria, Croatia, Greece, the Czech Republic, Slovenia, Cyprus and Slovakia.

However, the US and allied countries in Europe have largely continued to hold firm in their stance against Assad’s government, due to concerns over human rights violations.