Tunisian authorities detained more than 15 people after a march demanding freedom for four jailed Sumud flotilla activists, organizers said.
Key Developments
- Tunisia’s Sumud Committee said more than 15 people were detained following a march demanding the release of four flotilla activists.
- The four activists, held since March, had their pretrial detention extended by four months on September 11 and are on hunger strike.
- Two Tunisian political parties condemned the latest detentions and called for those arrested to be released.
Tunisian authorities detained more than 15 people after a march demanding freedom for four jailed Sumud flotilla activists, organizers said.
Tunisia’s Sumud Committee said the detentions took place on Sunday evening, following a demonstration in the capital calling for the release of four members of the Sumud Flotilla who have been held since March.
According to the committee, those detained included people who had participated in the march. Some were taken from public places and others from their homes.
The committee said it had received no official information about the reasons for their detention or where they were being held.
Tunisian authorities had issued no statement explaining the latest detentions, according to Al Mayadeen.
Hundreds March through Tunis
Hundreds of people joined Saturday’s demonstration, which began outside the headquarters of Tunisia’s National Union of Journalists and proceeded through the capital to the Municipal Theater on Habib Bourguiba Avenue.
Protesters called for the four flotilla members to be released and for the legal proceedings against them to end.
The march was organized by the National Committee for the Defense of Sumud Flotilla Activists and the Palestinian Cause, alongside Tunisian organizations and political parties.
Among those taking part was the Popular Current, which said it supported the detained activists on hunger strike and opposed what it described as the criminalization of activity in support of Palestinian rights.
Parties Condemn Detentions
The Popular Current condemned Sunday’s arrests as an unjustified escalation against activists with long histories in Tunisia’s student and social movements. It called for the newly detained people to be released and for the proceedings against them to end.
The party also renewed its demand for the release of the four detained Sumud Flotilla members.
The Workers’ Party separately condemned the arrests, describing them as part of an escalating repressive approach by the authorities. It called for the release of those detained following the march.
Neither the reasons for Sunday’s arrests nor any potential charges against those detained had been officially announced. Local sources circulated claims linking the arrests to political slogans criticizing President Kais Saied during the march, but no judicial or official source had confirmed that account.
The protest followed a September 11 judicial decision extending the pretrial detention of four Sumud Flotilla members—Wael Nawar, Ghassan al-Hanchiri, Ghassan al-Boughdiri and Nabil al-Chennoufi—for an additional four months.
The four have gone on hunger strike to protest their continued detention, their lawyers said. The defense team warned that their health was deteriorating.
(PC, Al Mayadeen)
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