Hundreds of Tunisians took to the streets on Saturday to demand the release of four pro-Palestinian activists detained over allegations of money laundering linked to their efforts to organise a humanitarian flotilla to Gaza.
The four activists were arrested in March and accused of misusing funds raised for the Global Sumud Flotilla, which sailed towards Gaza in 2025 in an attempt to deliver humanitarian aid to the Palestinian territory.
The Global Sumud Flotilla has rejected the allegations and repeatedly called for the activists’ release.
In a statement on Saturday, the group said the detainees’ health was “deteriorating fast” after they began a hunger strike in protest against their continued detention.
Bassem Trifi, head of the Tunisian League for Human Rights (LTDH), described the case as politically motivated, saying the activists should be regarded as prisoners of conscience and political prisoners.
The arrests came as the group was preparing for another Gaza-bound mission that was expected to depart partly from Tunisia but was later cancelled.
Trifi said the movement supporting Palestinian rights had attracted widespread public backing, but expressed concern that the case was being reduced to allegations of financial mismanagement.
The Global Sumud Flotilla had earlier described the arrests as a “troubling departure from Tunisia’s long history of public solidarity with the Palestinian people.”
Ghassen Bouazi, an advocate for the detained activists, alleged that their arrests formed part of a wider campaign targeting political figures, rights campaigners and journalists.
“We believe that some of the reasons behind their arrest were pressures from abroad,” he said, without providing further details.
The Global Sumud Flotilla describes its campaign as a “non-violent response to genocide, siege, mass starvation, and the destruction of civilian life in Gaza.”
The flotilla was anchored at Tunisia’s Sidi Bou Said port when it was attacked by two drones last year.
Before reaching Gaza, the flotilla was intercepted by Israel, which seized its vessels and detained and later deported the activists on board.
