The death of two detained Salafists on hunger strike causes a dilemma for the Tunisian government Two Salafist prisoners suspected of connections to the September 14 attack on the US Embassy in Tunis have temporarily suspended their hunger strikes on Wednesday, according to the Tunisian Ministry of Justice.
Hassan Ben Brik and Ali Trabelsi decided to end their hunger strike in Mornaguia prison after a long discussion with a Justice Ministry Representative, the Ministry said in a communiqué. The Ministry also asked a few Salafist clerics to take part in the discussion in order to convince the prisoners to end the strike.
Leader of the ruling Islamist party Ennahda, Sheikh Rashed Ghannouchi stressed earlier that the hunger strike is a legitimate action was conducted by some of his party members during the era of the ousted president Zine el-Abidine Ben Ali. He insisted, however, that \"striking to death is strictly prohibited according to the Islamic religious instructions.\"
Sources close to the Tunisian Salafist movement told Arabstoday that Brik and Ttrabelsi were among five Salafist prisoners sent to hospital on Saturday after serious deterioration in their health conditions, as they exceeded two months of hunger strike since their detention.
The sources added that the 174 Salafist prisoners, who were arrested on the back of the attack that targeted the US embassy in Tunis, are suffering harsh conditions in their detention. They said the prisoners find no medical care and are threatened by criminal and drug addicted prisoners.
The news came a few days after two Salafist inmates, detained on the same charges, died in prison. Mohammed Bakhti was close to Abu Iyadh, the fugitive leader of radical Salafist group Ansar al-Sharia and the alleged organiser of the embassy attack
Bakhti died last Friday evening and two days before, Bechir Golli had passed away after a 50-day hunger strike.
\"We regret the death of any Tunisian,\" said Tunisian Justice Minister Noureddine Bhiri. \"We attempted many times to persuade them to stop the hunger strike, but they refused.\"
\"The suspects were arrested based on evidence from the judicial police and judicial investigations. Some of them were caught stealing from the US embassy and the American school of Tunis as well as with “Molotov cocktails” - a variety of improvised incendiary weapons\" he added.
Bhiri also regretted \"interference\" in the judicial affairs from \"many political parties, the media and social institutions\".
\"The situation has the line of putting pressure on judges through various manifestations of protest and propaganda designed to secure a certain decision,\" he said.
\"Actors involved in the judicial system distance their decisions from political and personal disputes, and treat the cases independently, impartially and professionally. They are also asked to refrain from spreading rumours and disseminating unconfirmed information. An independent judiciary is also a judiciary free from the pressure of public opinion, media and political parties, as much as it is independent from the rest of the authorities,\" Bhiri explained.
Tunisian President Moncef Marzouki last Saturday called for an inquiry into the deaths of the two Salafist prisoners. Speaking at a Carthage conference organised by the Salafist Sheikh, Bechir Ben Hassen, Marzouki noted that the \"state would not yield to blackmail through hunger strikes\".
But the statements failed to calm civil society, with some activists and politicians calling for Bhiri\'s resignation
Tunisian League for Human Rights chief Abdessatar Ben Moussa called for the resignation of the Minister of Justice after holding him responsible for the death of the two young Salafists.
Moussa said that the league\'s representatives were denied a meeting with the prisoners for almost a month, until the Justice Ministry decided to eventually let five of them visit the Mornaguia prison.