Three prominent political opponents of Tunisian President Kais Sagitt, who were arrested last month and accused of conspiring against state security, have gone on hunger strike, their lawyer and the son of one said.

Former finance minister Hayam Turki, Attayar party co-founder Gazi Sawasi and Jauher Ben Barek, who is leading the protests against the president, were arrested as part of a crackdown on Sayed’s critics.

Islam Hamza, the lawyer for the three men, said they all went on hunger strike.

Sawassi’s son, Youssef, told Reuters he was told by authorities that his father was being transferred to another wing of the prison and they threatened to use violence against him to achieve this.

Police and the Interior and Justice ministries declined to comment on the arrests. A spokesman for the prison system did not respond to a request for comment on prison conditions.

Samir Dilu, the lawyer for Saima Isa, the only woman arrested, said on Wednesday that prison authorities had not allowed him to meet with her, even though he had received permission from a judge.

Dalia Ben Barek, a human rights lawyer and sister of Jawesh Ben Barek, said the detainees were kept in cells with broken windows and the smell of sewage.

Most major political parties accuse President Saget of a coup because he suspended parliament in 2021 and rules by decree. Last year he amended the Constitution, which was approved in a referendum with low turnout.

Saget says his actions are legal and necessary to save Tunisia from chronic crisis at the hands of a corrupt, self-serving elite. He also says that the prisoners are criminals, traitors and terrorists and that any judge who releases them should be considered their accomplice.