(MENAFN- Gulf Times) Jailed Tunisian media mogul, Nabil Karoui, one of the front-runners in the country's presidential polls this weekend, started a hunger strike yesterday to protest his imprisonment, a source in his campaign said.
Last month, Karoui, 56, was arrested on charges of money laundering and tax evasion.
He is now in a prison in the capital Tunis pending further questioning.
His lawyers have accused the government of pressuring judicial authorities to block his release, an accusation the government has denied.
'Karoui has already begun a hunger strike in protest against his continuing jailing during the election campaign, the source told DPA on condition of anonymity.
There was no immediate comment from authorities.
Karoui is among 26 contenders running in Tunisia's early presidential vote scheduled for Sunday.
Campaigns are to end today when a Tunisian court is expected to decide on a new request from Karoui's lawyers for his release.
Other presidential contenders include incumbent Prime Minister Youssef Chahed and the deputy head of the Islamist Ennahda movement, Abdelfattah Morou.
Presidential elections were pushed forward to September 15 after Tunisia's first democratically elected president, Beji Caid Essebsi, died in July, five months before the end of his term.
Tunisia, the birthplace of the Arab Spring revolts, is widely seen as the sole democratic success story of the 2010-11 uprisings.
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