By IWU-FI
17 March 2026. Since 6 March, a group of organisers from the Tunisian delegation of the Global Sumud Flotilla have been detained and imprisoned. Wael Nouar, Jawaher Channa, Nabil Chanoufi, Sana Msahli, and Mohammed Amin Belnour were arrested in a hotel in Sidi Bou Said by the anti-terrorism police unit, according to a press release.
Tunisian police made arrests after they prevented the FGS from carrying out several activities in the country. On 4 March, police disrupted a meeting between local and international leaders and dockworkers’ organisations in Sidi Bou Said, who had expressed solidarity with the flotilla in September 2025. Police arrested several leaders during the operation, including Thiago Ávila, from the Brazilian delegation and responsible for Latin America. On 5 March, the government and authorities cancelled a previously scheduled public event that was to be held at the Cine-Théâtre Le Rio in Tunis.
The Port of Sidi Bou Said was where the FGS arrived on 7 Sept. 2025, and where Israel attacked two of its ships with incendiary drones.
Various organisations have expressed solidarity with the arrested leaders. The Tunisian Forum for Economic and Social Rights (FTDES) and 17 other groups, including Amnesty International (AI), were concerned about growing limits on gatherings supporting Palestinians.
Despite growing condemnation of the criminalisation, repression, and imprisonment of the FGS by the Tunisian government and authorities, and the widespread demand for the release of those imprisoned, a Tunisian judge on Monday 16 March, ordered the pretrial detention of members of the Global Sumud Coordinating Committee on malicious and fraudulent charges of forgery, possession, and use of forged documents, fraud, breach of trust, falsified records, and money laundering.
The international organisation in solidarity with the Palestinian people stated that, despite the intimidation and the attempt to blockade important Tunisian ports, “Our mission remains unchanged.” This spring, we will launch another historic civilian mission from the Mediterranean to Gaza to defy the siege and support the Palestinian people. We trust that the people of Tunisia, whose solidarity with Palestine has always been powerful and visible, will once again play a vital role in this historic effort.
From the International Workers’ Unity – Fourth International (IWU-FI), as part of the global movement to support the Palestinian people and active collaborators with the FGS since 2025, we condemn the imprisonment and prosecution of the Tunisian leaders and call for the demand for their immediate release and dismissal of charges to be extended.
