The Tunisian section of Amnesty International called on the Tunisian authorities to immediately release MP and president of the movement “Hope and Work”, Yassine Ayari and to drop the military prosecution against him.

In a statement released on Thursday, the organisation called on human rights defenders to send letters to the President of the Republic Kaïs Saïed, demanding the release of Yassine Ayari and dropping the military prosecution against him, while stopping the prosecution of civilians before military courts.

Amnesty International recalled that Yassine Ayari has been held since 28 July 2021 in the Mornaguia prison to serve a two-month sentence pronounced by a military court in 2018 for his Facebook posts criticising the army.

It further reported that the MP started a hunger strike on 7 September to protest his prison conditions.

The Hope and Work movement had announced in a statement on September 7 that its president and MP Yassine Ayari started a hunger strike on Tuesday morning, said his party Hope and Labour. He is serving a two-month sentence handed by the military court at El Mornaguia prison, Manouba.

The party said the move comes as Ayari exhausted all possible means to “cry foul.”

The MP is staging a hunger strike over legal action brought against him in connection to social media posts after July 25.

Ayari said he is utterly opposed to what happened on July 25, a “serious violation of the freedom of expression” and criticised “the involvement of military courts to stifle the voice of civilians.”

The decision to go on a hunger strike was also motivated by the unjustified rejection of a parole request though all conditions were met.

Source: TAP News Agency