Tunisian authorities have come under fire after relocating several opposition figures to prisons far from their families, a move described by lawyers and relatives as an attempt to isolate and punish the detainees further.
At least seven political prisoners were suddenly transferred on Thursday from Mornaguia prison near Tunis to more remote jails without prior notification to their families or legal representatives, according to lawyer Dalila Msaddek.
Among those moved were high-profile figures such as Issam Chebbi, now held in the northern city of Bizerte, and Ridha Belhaj, who was transferred to Siliana, approximately two hours south of the capital.
“They were moved without any warning to their families or lawyers,” Msaddek told AFP. She condemned the move as “a form of harassment” designed to make visits more difficult, particularly for those with family and legal teams based in Tunis.
In Tunisia, weekly family visits are an essential lifeline for prisoners, who rely on food baskets brought by loved ones to supplement prison meals. According to Msaddek, some inmates resisted the sudden transfers but were forcibly relocated nonetheless.
In a letter shared online from detention, Belhaj slammed the transfer as a deliberate move to isolate him from his family and legal team, calling it “another attempt to break my will.” He insisted that he, Chebbi, and fellow detainee Ghazi Chaouachi were “prisoners of conscience, not criminals.”
He added: “This is a desperate effort to silence free voices and intimidate anyone who dares to speak against injustice and tyranny.”
Chebbi’s wife voiced her outrage in a video statement, branding the move as “an injustice” and an “abuse.” She said she only discovered the relocation during her usual weekly visit, and that her husband had been notified just an hour before the transfer.
The prisoners were previously held at Mornaguia, a major detention centre near the capital. Chebbi is now incarcerated at Bizerte’s Borj Erroumi prison, a former French military bunker known for its harsh conditions during the regimes of Habib Bourguiba and Zine El Abidine Ben Ali.
All those transferred were recently convicted in a controversial mass trial involving around 40 public figures, many of whom are vocal critics of President Kais Saied. They were handed lengthy sentences on charges that included conspiring against the state.
The trial sparked condemnation from international observers, including France, Germany, and the United Nations. President Saied dismissed these reactions as “blatant interference in Tunisia’s internal affairs.”
Public backlash against the transfers intensified on Friday during a protest in Tunis, where demonstrators called for the release of jailed lawyer Ahmed Souab. Souab had served as part of the defence team during the mass trial and was later arrested on terrorism-related charges after alleging that judges were coerced into delivering harsh verdicts.
“We’re seeing a return to the old practices of the Ben Ali dictatorship, which used prison transfers to demoralise political detainees,” said Chaima Issa, an opposition figure who attended the protest.
Chebbi’s wife, also present at the rally, said that after visiting her husband in Bizerte, she found him in “inhumane” conditions, sharing a cell with 60 other inmates and deprived of basic detention standards.
The latest developments have added to mounting concerns about the erosion of civil liberties in Tunisia since President Saied’s power grab in July 2021, when he suspended parliament and began ruling by decree.
