Chawki Tabib, a Tunisian lawyer who once headed the national bar association and later its national anti-corruption authority, began an open-ended hunger strike on August 11, 2026 at Belli civil prison in Nabeul governorate. He is protesting the ten-year sentence handed down against him on May 21 and the deterioration of his conditions in detention. Lawyers who visited him on August 12 found him weakened but determined to continue.
A voluntary appearance that ended in prison
Tabib presented himself voluntarily before an investigating judge at the Tunis court of first instance on April 14, 2026. The judge issued a committal order without hearing him, and he was jailed at Mornaguia prison southwest of the capital. On May 21 the court sentenced him to ten years on charges of forging documents and using forged documents, in a case tied to his work leading the National Anti-Corruption Authority, known by its French acronym INLUCC, between 2016 and 2020.
The 2017 organic law governing that body grants its officials functional immunity for acts carried out in the exercise of their mandate. Several European and international bar associations have condemned the verdict.
Medical care withheld
On June 25, Tabib collapsed inside Belli prison and was rushed to the university hospital in Nabeul, during a period of intense summer heat and with pre-existing health problems. Information relayed by his family indicates he has struggled to obtain prescribed treatment for chronic conditions including osteoarthritis and back pain; he has not been allowed the orthopaedic pillow his doctor prescribed. The Nelson Mandela Rules, the UN standard minimum rules for treating prisoners, require health care equivalent to that available in the community.
Obstacles for the defence
Since his unannounced transfer from Mornaguia to Belli in June, his lawyers have run into repeated obstruction. The investigating judge first said he was unaware of the transfer and refused to issue visit permits. He now issues permits valid for a single day, which forces the defence team to obtain a fresh authorisation each morning from the economic and financial judicial division in Tunis and then drive some 50 kilometres to the prison before visiting hours end. Rule 61 of the Nelson Mandela Rules and Principle 8 of the UN Basic Principles on the Role of Lawyers guarantee detainees the right to consult their counsel without delay, interception or censorship, and in full confidentiality.
On May 6, taken out for medical tests, Tabib was handcuffed and held for hours in the rear compartment of a prison vehicle alongside detainees prosecuted in terrorism cases. He is also barred from the books he needs to continue a doctoral thesis in detention, and has been cut off from nearly all correspondence since his arrest.
International human rights organisations have called on the Tunisian authorities to release him immediately and unconditionally, to end judicial harassment against him and other defenders in the country, and to guarantee him appropriate medical care while the hunger strike continues.
This report was produced by the HuMedia newsroom.
