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Ghannouchi faints in prison
Fears have grown for Tunisia’s jailed opposition leader Rached Ghannouchi after an eyewitness said she watched the 84-year-old lose consciousness inside Mornaguia prison during an intense summer heatwave.
“Defense team for the head of the Ennahda Movement and former Speaker of the Tunisian Parliament, Rached Ghannouchi, said that his client is barred from visiting and that there is a concealment of his health condition, expressing deep concern over what it described as a 'serious deterioration' in his health”
Haifa Chebbi, the daughter of imprisoned opposition politician and lawyer Ahmed Chebbi, said in a Facebook video on Tuesday that she witnessed Ghannouchi faint while she was visiting her father at Mornaguia prison, and she later said he regained consciousness.
Maher Medhioub, a former parliamentarian and aide to Ghannouchi, said in a Facebook post that "Time is running out. The risk to his life is becoming increasingly serious."
The reports place the incident in a wider context of exceptionally high temperatures across Tunisia, with parts of the country recording temperatures above 45 degrees Celsius, and with power cuts reported as demand for air conditioning surged.
Defense cites denied visits
Ghannouchi’s defense team said it was concerned about what it described as a "serious deterioration" in his health and said he is barred from meeting with his lawyer and family members.
In a statement, the defense said it "received information from several lawyers" indicating that Ghannouchi suffered a fainting spell and extreme fatigue last Friday, describing his condition as "deeply worrying."
The defense said Tunisian authorities refused to allow his lawyer or family members to visit him "despite his health condition," calling it "a flagrant violation of the law and the prisoner's fundamental rights."
Amnesty International urged Tunisian authorities to bolster measures to protect prisoners from the effects of the heat wave, especially the elderly and those with chronic illnesses or disabilities.
Arbitrary detention and heat risk
The defense and rights advocates framed Ghannouchi’s situation as part of a broader pattern, with the Anadolu Ajansı report saying the defense recalled a UN decision deeming his detention arbitrary and calling for his immediate release and an investigation into reported abuses.
“Subscriber-only article By Myriam Ben Zineb The defense committee for Rached Ghannouchi released a statement on Thursday, July 23, 2026, in which it sounded the alarm about the health condition of the former speaker of Parliament and the leader of the Ennahdha movement”
The Middle East Eye report said the UN Working Group on Arbitrary Detention said in a report last year that Ghannouchi’s imprisonment was arbitrary and called for his immediate release, while organizations including Human Rights Watch and Amnesty International accused Tunisian authorities of using the judiciary to silence political dissent.
Middle East Eye also described Ghannouchi’s imprisonment as emblematic of President Kais Saied’s crackdown on opponents, noting he has been imprisoned since April 2023 after being arrested as Saied intensified his crackdown following moves in July 2021.
As Tunisia’s heat wave continues to strain the national electricity grid and drive power cuts, Middle East Eye reported that rights advocates warned such conditions pose particular risks for elderly prisoners and those with underlying health conditions in overcrowded detention facilities where ventilation is poor and cooling is limited.
