Several prominent Tunisian opposition figures were abruptly moved to distant prisons this week, prompting condemnation from families and lawyers.
At least seven political detainees were transferred Thursday from Mornaguia prison near Tunis to remote facilities, lawyer Dalila Msaddek told AFP.
Among them, Issam Chebbi was relocated to Bizerte, Tunisia’s northernmost city, while Ridha Belhaj was taken to Siliana, two hours south.
“They were moved without any warning to their families or lawyers,” Msaddek said, calling it “a form of harassment.”
She argued the move deliberately obstructs weekly visits, during which families bring food and legal teams provide support.
Msaddek noted some prisoners resisted transfer but were forcibly removed, with no prior communication.
In a letter from prison, Belhaj denounced the move as an attempt to “break my will” and “silence free voices.”
He wrote that he, Chebbi, and Ghazi Chaouachi are “prisoners of conscience, not criminals,” targeted for their dissent.
Chebbi’s wife learned of the move during her weekly visit and said her husband was informed only an hour before.
She described the transfer as “an injustice” and claimed he now endures “inhumane” conditions with 60 inmates in a single room.
The transferred detainees were among 40 public figures sentenced last month in a mass trial condemned by global rights groups.
Criticism from France, Germany, and the United Nations was dismissed by President Kais Saied as “blatant interference.”
The prison in Bizerte, Borj Erroumi, was once a French military bunker notorious for harsh conditions under past regimes.
During a protest in Tunis, opposition figures condemned the prison moves as a return to Ben Ali-era repression.
Chaima Issa warned of revived tactics “aimed at breaking the morale of political prisoners by moving them from one prison to another.”