DOZENS of people protested in Tunis on Saturday demanding the release of four Global Sumud Flotilla activists, as concern mounts over their deteriorating health after one of them entered his second month of a hunger strike.
The protesters marched from the headquarters of the Tunisian National Journalists’ Union (SNJT) to Avenue Habib Bourguiba in central Tunis, carrying Tunisian and Palestinian flags and portraits of the four detainees and calling for their release and an end to the case against them.
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They also chanted anti-government slogans, including: “No fear, no terror, the street belongs to the people”, “Down with the president’s repression, down with the oppression of the people”, and “Your narrative is a Zionist one, you agents of imperialism.”
The demonstration came days after a court extended the pre-trial detention of Wael Naouar, Ghassen Henchiri, Ghassen Boughdiri and Nabil Channoufi by another four months. They have been held since March in an investigation into alleged financial irregularities linked to fundraising for the flotilla, according to Tunisian state media, citing judicial sources.
The four activists and their defence team deny wrongdoing, while supporters say the case is part of a wider crackdown on civil society and political dissent.
Naouar, a member of the flotilla’s steering committee, began an open-ended hunger strike on August 16 to protest his detention. The other three joined him on September 9, according to statements from supporters and the Global Sumud Flotilla.
Ghassen Bouaazi, a member of the National Committee for the Defence of Sumud Flotilla Activists, said Naouar’s health had deteriorated significantly.
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“Wael Naouar has been on hunger strike for about 35 days and his health has deteriorated considerably,” Bouaazi told Al Jazeera on the sidelines of Saturday’s protest.
He said Naouar had experienced repeated fainting, difficulty breathing and hallucinations and had lost more than 20kg (44lb).
“There is now a real danger threatening him,” Bouaazi said, adding that the committee holds President Kais Saied and his government politically, legally and morally responsible for any harm that might come to the detainees.
“We demand that the authorities close this case once and for all,” Bouaazi said, describing the accusations against the four activists as “dubious claims”.
He described the arrests as part of what he called a broader campaign targeting political activists, journalists, rights defenders and trade unionists, saying similar financial crime and money laundering allegations had been used in other cases.
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He said the case was unfolding within “a judicial system that is not independent and is subject to the executive branch’s monopoly”.
Bouaazi said the committee believes the prosecution of the flotilla activists is aimed at criminalising independent popular solidarity with Palestinians and is part of what he described as an increasingly security-focused approach to protests and public life in Tunisia.
