The strong man of the Tunisian Islamist-inspired party Ennahdha Noureddine Bhiri, arrested Friday and hospitalized two days later, “agreed to be infused” before again refusing treatment, raising “serious fears” of a possible deterioration of his condition, according to doctors who visited him on Wednesday.
“His life-threatening prognosis is not committed but his condition depends on his taking medication,” Lotfi Ezzedine, an official of the Torture Prevention Authority (INPT), told AFP, after three doctors from this independent authority saw Mr. Bhiri in the afternoon.
At first, “he agreed to be infused to take the serum and the drugs but then he refused again”, he added, stressing that the doctors of the INPT and the hospital of Bizerte (north), where he has been hospitalized since Sunday, have “serious fears” of a deterioration in his health, Mr. Bhiri suffering from hypertension, diabetes and having a history of heart disease.
Doctors in Bizerte who had managed to convince him to be infused, by bringing in his family, “communicated because they do not want to be held responsible if there is a critical deterioration in his condition,” said Mr. Ezzedine.
Since his arrest on Friday by plainclothes officers at an undisclosed location, Mr. Bhiri has been on a hunger strike and refused to take his medication (16 tablets per day).
Ennahdha says he lodged a “kidnapping” complaint against President Kais Saied and Interior Minister Taoufik Charfeddine, who ordered the arrest.
Earlier Wednesday, Bhiri’s defense committee claimed that Ennahdha’s strongman was “between life and death”.
Ennahdha had already said on Sunday that his former minister was in a “critical condition” before being denied by sources in the INPT and the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights.
Ennahdha has been at the heart of a standoff with President Kais Saied since his July 25 coup and his decision to freeze the parliament that this party had controlled for ten years. Ennahdha and other opponents have denounced a “coup” and various NGOs have said they fear an authoritarian drift.
– “Arbitrary detention” –
Meanwhile, Mr Bhiri’s defense committee on Wednesday denounced the allegations made by the interior minister on Monday as “totally false”, saying that Bhiri’s arrest was linked to “serious suspicions of terrorism”. “.
The prosecution confirmed on Tuesday that it had opened an investigation after receiving a “report from the anti-terrorism and organized crime services”.
According to the prosecution, false identity documents and nationality certificates were attributed to a Syrian couple when Mr. Bhiri was in charge of the justice ministry.
A few NGOs began criticizing the proceedings against Mr. Bhiri on Wednesday. The Tunisian Human Rights League notably called on the Interior Ministry to provide “details on the circumstances” of his arrest.
The World Organization Against Torture (OMCT) denounced an arrest “without a warrant” or “specific motives” and the fact that Mr. Bhiri was “taken to a secret place of detention”.
On Friday, the ministry announced two house arrest (another Ennahdha executive, Fethi Baldi, was arrested), without giving names, citing a “preventive measure” justified “by the need to preserve national security “.
According to OMCT, “the fate reserved for Mr. Bhiri is more akin to arbitrary” and “illegal” detention.
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