Hundreds of protesters gathered in Tunis on Saturday to demand the release of four activists associated with the Global Sumud Flotilla who have been detained since March on charges related to financial misconduct. The activists—Wael Naouar, Ghassen Henchiri, Ghassen Boughdiri, and Nabil Channoufi—are accused of mismanaging funds raised to support a humanitarian flotilla aimed at delivering aid to Gaza.

The demonstration included a march from the Tunisian National Journalists’ Union headquarters to Avenue Habib Bourguiba in central Tunis. Protesters carried Tunisian and Palestinian flags alongside portraits of the detainees, calling for their immediate release and an end to the legal case against them. Anti-government slogans were also voiced during the event.

The four activists were arrested as the Global Sumud Flotilla was organizing a new mission, which was ultimately canceled. The flotilla previously sailed to Gaza in 2025, where its vessels were intercepted by Israel, resulting in the seizure of the boats and the detention and deportation of activists. Last year, the flotilla’s boats were anchored in Tunisia’s Sidi Bou Said port when they were reportedly targeted by two drones.

Authorities extended the activists’ pre-trial detention by an additional four months shortly before the protest, according to Tunisian state media citing judicial sources. The flotilla’s organizers and supporters maintain that the charges are politically motivated and part of a broader crackdown on political activists, rights advocates, and journalists in Tunisia.

Bassem Trifi, head of the Tunisian League for Human Rights, described the detainees as prisoners of conscience and political prisoners, emphasizing the activism surrounding Palestinian rights in Tunisia before the arrests. He noted that the case had been reduced by some to mere allegations of fund mismanagement, overlooking the broader political context.

The Global Sumud Flotilla condemned the arrests as a departure from Tunisia’s historic public solidarity with the Palestinian cause and described the flotilla’s actions as a non-violent response to the humanitarian crisis in Gaza, marked by siege, starvation, and destruction of civilian life. Ghassen Bouazzi, an advocate for the detained activists, suggested that foreign pressures may have influenced the arrests, though he did not provide further details.

Concerns over the detainees’ health have grown, particularly after reports that one of the activists entered a second month of a hunger strike in protest of their imprisonment. The group continues to call for international attention and pressure to secure their release.