Parliament Speaker Numan Kurtulmuş on Thursday called for the release of jailed Tunisian opposition leader Rached Ghannouchi and urged authorities to provide him with adequate medical care and humane conditions amid concerns over his health.
Kurtulmuş said he was closely following developments surrounding Ghannouchi, the leader of Tunisia’s Ennahda movement and former speaker of the Tunisian Parliament, who recently ended a hunger and medication strike at the request of the team monitoring his health.
“Considering his advanced age and existing health problems, the seriousness of Ghannouchi’s condition must not be overlooked,” Kurtulmuş said in a social media post.
He called Ghannouchi a prominent figure in the struggle for “peace, democracy and solidarity” and praised his political role in Tunisia.
Kurtulmuş said Ghannouchi had remained committed to his political and democratic principles despite pressure, exile and imprisonment and had gained recognition in Tunisia and internationally for his role during the country’s political transition.
Citing long-standing ties between Türkiye and Tunisia, Kurtulmuş wished Ghannouchi a speedy recovery.
“It is our greatest hope that he is provided with all necessary medical support, given fair and humane conditions befitting human dignity and released,” he noted.
Ghannouchi was detained on April 2023, and subsequently jailed on charges of “incitement against state security.” He has since received prison sentences in several separate cases.
Ghannouchi’s defense team said in a written statement that officials at Mornaguia Prison had informed his lawyers that he had ended the hunger and medication strike he began on Aug. 6.
The team also demanded an end to Ghannouchi’s isolation and called for him to be allowed to meet with his lawyers and family.
In an earlier statement, Ghannouchi’s defense team said the 85-year-old politician had been transferred to a hospital on July 29 and had been held in “complete isolation” since then.
He recently ended the strike at the request of the medical team at the hospital.
