TUNIS – A second Tunisian held in custody since protesters ransacked the US Embassy in Tunis in September has died after a hunger strike, his lawyer and the Justice Ministry said Saturday. Muhammed Bakhti died in hospital Saturday, two days after 26-year-old student Bechir Gholli. They were among dozens of Salafists on hunger strike over prison conditions. “It's a shame that Tunisians die in prison after the revolution,” Bakhti's lawyer, Anouar Aouled Ali, said. Tunisia became the birthplace of the “Arab Spring” in January 2011 when protesters overthrew a long-established government and sent political shockwaves through the Arab world. The attack on the US Embassy in September was triggered by an anti-Islam video made in the United States. Authorities arrested 144 people. Bakhti was a student at the Faculty of Literature in Tunis. He took part in armed clashes in 2007 against the security forces of ousted president Ben Ali and was arrested and held until after the revolution. “The death of Tunisians because of hunger strikes is unacceptable .. the government should respond to the demands of the rest of the hunger strikers,” Imen Triki, president of the Freedom and Fairness human rights group, said. “We regret the death of any Tunisian .. We have made many attempts to persuade Gholli and Bakhti to stop the hunger strike, but they refused and we provided them medical assistance,” Justice Minister Noureddine Behiri said Friday. The deaths of the two Salafists could embarrass the government. After an election last year, Ennahdha, a moderate Islamic group, formed a coalition with two non-religious parties. – Reuters