“I am on a hunger strike to defend press freedom, our sole gain in the revolution,” the 36-year-old told the agency. Five other bloggers have joined in the hunger strike to defend press freedom.

“The soldier who deprived Ramzi of his work equipment is depriving us Tunisians of the right to information,” a colleague wrote. The army however said there was a ban on filming the hearings.

Bettaieb says he wanted to highlight the plight of those whose relatives were killed in the crackdown by the Ben Ali regime to stifle the revolt, which claimed some 340 lives and saw nearly 2,200 injured, according to the government, says AFP.

Ben Ali, who fled to Saudi Arabia after being toppled in a popular uprising, last year, is being tried in absentia. His co-accused are ex-senior officials being prosecuted for the deaths of at least 22 people during the January 2011 pro-democracy protests in the towns of Thala and Kasserine. Many of the victims died when security forces fired live rounds.

The former president is being charged for deaths, corruption and toture that occurred during the Arab Spring protests in the country last year. Ben Ali has already been sentenced to more than 66 years in prison but has not yet been convicted of charges that carry the death penalty, according to Al Arabiya.

It is the first time the death penalty has been sought against the ousted  dictator  in which the protest against his autocratic rule has triggered the awakening that has swept the region.

Among those on trial in the case are former interior ministers Rafik Belhaj Kacem and Ahmed Friaa, Reuters reported.

On Tuesday, Tunisia’s justice minister said he suspected Ben Ali was still benefiting from funds stashed abroad 16 months after his overthrow and urged Saudi Arabia to extradite the former president for trial, Al Arabiya reported.

Tunisia’s government has faced condemnation over its failure to persuade Saudi Arabia to hand over Ben Ali and his wife, Leila Trabelsi.

According to theUnited Nations , more than 300 people were killed and many others wounded during Ben Ali’s crackdown on protests over corruption, unemployment, and high food prices.