Jailed opposition leader Ghannouchi faints in Tunisian prison due to heat

Conditions at Tunisia's Mornaguia prison have deteriorated significantly during an ongoing heatwave, with documented health impacts on elderly inmates. Haifa Chebbi, visiting her imprisoned father, witnessed the fainting of opposition leader Rached Ghannouchi and described the facility as nearly unbearable, with temperatures reaching 52 degrees Celsius during her visit. Detainees spend the majority of their time in confined cells measuring approximately 16 square metres, with only two hours permitted outside daily.

Ghannouchi, a former parliament speaker and founder of the Ennahda political movement, has been detained since 2023. His health deteriorated sharply in late April, requiring hospitalization, though he has since returned to the prison facility. His imprisonment is part of a broader crackdown on opposition figures, with 37 individuals charged with conspiracy against state security and sentenced to lengthy prison terms in 2025.

Among those imprisoned alongside Ghannouchi are Ahmed Nejib Chebbi, an 81-year-old politician who helped establish the National Salvation Front coalition in 2022, as well as lawyers Abir Moussi and Ayachi Hammami, journalist Ziad El Hani, and activist Chaima Issa. The United Nations human rights chief characterized the mass imprisonment as a setback to justice and rule of law, citing violations of fair trial protections and due process rights that suggest political motivations.

Haifa Chebbi's account, shared through a Facebook video, emphasized that prison staff were managing conditions as effectively as possible under difficult circumstances. She connected the prison crisis to broader national challenges, including water and electricity shortages affecting the wider population, and called for Tunisians to pursue meaningful political change.