TUNIS, Tunisia: A second suspect in the attack on Tunisia’s US Embassy died yesterday after months on a hunger strike, his lawyer said.
Mohammed Bakhti, a prominent member of the Salafi movement, was admitted to intensive care days earlier following complications resulting from his two-monthlong hunger strike.
Fellow detainee, Bachir Al-Gholi, died on Thursday after a heart attack brought on by his own hunger strike.
The two men had proclaimed their innocence. Abdelbasset Ben Mbarek, their lawyer, accused authorities of responding too late to their grave condition.
Security forces killed four people in the attack, the area around the US Embassy was damaged and an American school was gutted.
Some 425 suspects were rounded up in the aftermath of the attack, with 225 remaining in custody, according to Justice Minister Nourreddine Bhiri.
The minister said he regretted the death of Al-Gholi and deplored the use of hunger strikes as a protest. He said the death would be investigated.
The Tunisian League for the Defense of Human Rights has called for an independent investigation.
2nd Tunisian detainee dies after hunger strike
