The Committee for the Defense of Political Leaders Detained in the Case of "Plotting against State Security" (composed of lawyers) informs public opinion that political prisoner Jaouhar Ben Mbarek has been on open and unlimited hunger strike since Sunday, March 30, 2025.
This radical decision comes at a time when the authorities are pursuing their judicial relentlessness in an eminently political case, devoid of any foundation, which has been fabricated to silence the democratic opposition and stifle any free voice in the country. The so-called "conspiracy against state security" case concerns some forty political figures, associations and media outlets who have been arbitrarily detained for over a year, without tangible proof, in a procedure where the judiciary is entirely subject to the agenda of the executive power.
Jaouhar Ben Mbarek is on hunger strike to denounce the imposition of remote hearings, a direct violation of his right to a fair trial. He demands his physical presence at the hearing scheduled for April 11, 2025, in order to publicly defend himself, refute the accusations, confront his accusers and denounce the political nature of this judicial masquerade. He also protests against the blatant falsification of the facts at the hearing on March 4, 2025, when it was claimed that he had refused to appear, when on the contrary he had demanded to appear in court.
In today's Tunisia, justice is not only mute, it is confiscated, instrumentalized, turned against those it should protect. In this desert of law, prisoners are left with nothing but their bodies to cry out for truth and justice.
It's not just silence they face, it's a wall of opacity, lies and institutionalized cruelty. Faced with this, they have no choice but to turn their flesh into an indictment, their suffering into a cry, their strike into the ultimate recourse against humiliation.
Jaouhar Ben Mbarek is not silent: he speaks with his body. He forces us to hear what the regime seeks to erase: dignity, justice, truth.
The CRLDHT, like the Comité de défense des leaders politiques détenus dans l'affaire dite du " complot contre la sûreté de l'État ", affirms its total and unconditional support for Jaouhar Ben Mbarek and reiterates its absolute rejection of remote trials, which it considers a denial of the fundamental right to defense. It renews its appeal to the authorities in power to respect their international commitments and comply with the decision of the United Nations Working Group on Arbitrary Detention.
The CRLDHT, like the Defense Committee (lawyers), demands that the April 11, 2025 hearing be held in the physical presence of all the defendants , and calls on lawyers, magistrates of integrity, human rights organizations, Tunisian civil society and international partners not to look the other way.
This fight is not just that of one man for his freedom, it's that of an entire people for the law, against arbitrariness.
