Tunisia’s interior ministry on Thursday dismissed accusations by lawyers and a rights group that police officers had tortured a detained attorney who collapsed in court.

The attorney Mahdi Zagrouba - a well known critic of President Kais Saied - was arrested on Monday on suspicion of verbally and physically assaulting a police officer during protests against the arrest of another lawyer, prosecutors said.

Zagrouba appeared in front of an investigating magistrate on Wednesday, told the hearing he had been tortured by officers, then collapsed and was taken to hospital, fellow lawyers and witnesses said.

“He mentioned the names of the policemen who tortured him before he suffered a collapse and coma,” lawyer Souad Boker, who was representing Zagrouba, said.

The interior ministry said it strongly denied the accusations.