Concerns grow over Ahmed Néjib Chebbi's health in detention

Msaddek, a member of the defense collective for the case, reported Chebbi's statement upon his incarceration in December 2025: "I can last a year, maybe two. Beyond that, I can't promise you anything." She clarified that Chebbi's use of the Tunisian verb "nchedd" to hold/last referred to his physical capacity to remain alive in detention, not his ability to endure prison or his sentence.

This alert follows a health incident on July 27, 2026, when Chebbi experienced significant respiratory distress and exhaustion at Mornaguia prison, leading to an accelerated heart rate. His family expressed "great concern" and held the authorities and the President of the Republic "fully responsible" for any health deterioration or harm related to his detention conditions. Ahmed Néjib Chebbi, president of the National Salvation Front and a historical figure of the Tunisian opposition, was arrested on December 4, 2025, to serve a twelve-year sentence.

His political career spans nearly six decades, including previous imprisonment for political activities in the 1960s. In March 2026, the NGO Intersection for Rights and Freedoms called for his immediate release, citing "serious violations of fair trial guarantees" in his case. Msaddek's publica