Arrested Tunisian Politician in Hospital in Critical Condition

Tunisian politician Noureddine Bhiri , a senior member of the Ennahdha party who was arrested and taken for questioning on Friday, was taken to the hospital in critical condition, activists said late on Sunday.

Ennahdha, a moderate Islamic party which has the most seats in the parliament that was suspended by President Kais Saied, said in a statement on Sunday that Bhiri, who suffers from chronic diseases, such as diabetes, high blood pressure, and cardiac arrhythmias, was denied access to his life-sustaining medications and to health care.

The Tunisian Interior Ministry said on Saturday that the arrest of Bhiri and another senior politician was a “preventive measure dictated by the need to preserve national security.”

In July, Saied fired the government and suspended parliament, and assumed executive authority in a move his critics have called a coup. In September, Saied announced that he would rule by decree, which allows him to run the country while suspending part of the country’s constitution. A new government was approved in October. Saied says that parliamentary elections will be held by the end of 2022.

Since Saied’s intervention, several senior politicians and business leaders have been detained or prosecuted, charged with corruption or defamation.