Lina Altawell
30 July 2026•Update: 30 July 2026
The family of jailed Ennahda leader Rached Ghannouchi issued an urgent appeal for intervention on Thursday over his deteriorating health in prison, saying he had been hospitalized six times this month.
In a statement signed by Ghannouchi's daughter Tasnim al-Kharji, the family said the health of the former parliament speaker has been “continuously and rapidly deteriorating” over the past two months.
“Approximately two weeks ago, immediately after returning from the hospital and while on his way to meet with his lawyer, he lost consciousness due to a high fever and an extreme rise in blood pressure,” the family said.
It accused Tunisian authorities of placing Ghannouchi “under complete isolation, preventing his family and lawyer from visiting him or checking on his condition, and withholding all information about his health.”
During that period, the family said, Ghannouchi went on a hunger strike and refused medication to demand access to visits.
“Yesterday, we received information that his health condition had deteriorated again and that he had to be transferred to the hospital for the sixth time this month,” the statement said.
The family also expressed concern over a new measure barring family and lawyer visits for up to 21 days after a prisoner is transferred to a hospital.
“Withholding information from his family and legal team, particularly denying them the right to visit him and concealing his medical records, constitutes persecution and deprives my father of his most basic rights,” it said
The family said the Ennahda leader had been in good health and active before his imprisonment, adding that he had managed Parkinson’s disease through diet, exercise and a healthy lifestyle.
Since his detention, the family said, Ghannouchi has suffered from severe blood pressure spikes and extreme fatigue, raising concerns that “medication in prison may have been administered irregularly or that incompatible drugs may have been prescribed.”
The family demanded access to his full medical file to independently verify his diagnosis and the medications prescribed to him. It also called for independent doctors to examine him and assess his condition.
“The continued detention of an 85-year-old political figure after more than three years of arbitrary imprisonment is equivalent to a slow death sentence and has no legal or moral justification,” the statement said.
There was no immediate comment from Tunisian authorities on the family’s statement.
On Monday, Tunisian authorities returned Ghannouchi to prison after his recovery at a military hospital from a health crisis, a defense lawyer told Anadolu.
Ghannouchi's health has been the subject of renewed debate in Tunisia in recent days.
Ghannouchi, 84, has been held since April 2023 and is currently serving multiple prison sentences in separate cases.
Tunisian authorities say Ghannouchi and other defendants are being prosecuted on criminal charges related to state security and deny any political interference in judicial proceedings. Critics and opposition figures, however, argue the cases are part of a wider campaign targeting opponents of Tunisian President Kais Saied.
