Gaza flotilla activist on hunger strike in Tunisia jail ‘on verge of death’

Wael Naouar is in critical condition as his hunger strike enters its 39th day, a prominent local rights group says.

Supporters of detained pro-Palestinian activists protest to demand their release in Tunis, Tunisia [File: Stringer/Reuters]

Gaza solidarity activist Wael Naouar has been admitted to hospital more than a month after launching a hunger strike to protest his detention in Tunisia, according to the Gaza Sumud Flotilla organisation to which he belongs.

Bassem Trifi, the head of the Tunisian League for the Defence of Human ⁠⁠Rights (LTDH), on Wednesday said Naouar was “in a very critical health condition and on the ⁠⁠verge of death”.

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A prison spokesperson did not immediately comment on Naouar’s case and condition. The hunger striker has demanded that authorities drop charges of financial misconduct against him and three other activists.

The four, including Ghassen Henchiri, Ghassen Boughdiri and Nabil Channoufi, were arrested in March after being accused of misusing funds raised for the Global Sumud Flotilla , an international campaign seeking to challenge Israel’s blockade of Gaza. They remain in pre-trial detention.

“Wael Naouar is in hospital, and Tunisian authorities are refusing to disclose any information with his family or lawyers”, the Gaza Sumud Flotilla said in a statement on X.

“This comes right after a judge REJECTED the appeal against the extension of the Sumud 4’s pre-trial detention,” read the statement, which added that the activist was on day 39 of his hunger strike.

The pro-Palestinian activist had lost more than 20kg (44lb) and was suffering from pain throughout his body, according to his lawyer.

None of the activists have been convicted of an offence, but remain under investigation over alleged “suspicious financial flows”.

On Saturday , at least 11 people were arrested in Tunisia after participating in a protest demanding the release of the jailed activists.

The Gaza-bound flotilla set sail last September and was intercepted by Israel, which then detained and deported the activists to the North African country.

Hamida Dridi, mother of detained pro-Palestinian activist Wael Naouar, sits with her son, Nabil Naouar, as they look at a phone at their home in Tunis, Tunisia [File: Stringer/Reuters]

Ghassen Bouaazi, a member of the National Committee for the Defence of Sumud Flotilla Activists, said Naouar has recently experienced repeated fainting, difficulty breathing and hallucinations.

“There is now a real danger threatening him,” Bouaazi told Al Jazeera on the sidelines of Saturday’s protest.

A Human Rights Watch report said it had documented what it described as the “weaponisation” of financial and criminal investigations by Tunisian authorities against civil society activists.

The government denies the prosecutions are political, and ‌President Kais Saied says freedoms are guaranteed, the judiciary is independent and, no one is above the law.

当地一家著名人权组织称，瓦埃勒·纳瓦尔的绝食抗议已进入第39天，目前情况危急。

在突尼斯，被拘留的亲巴勒斯坦活动人士的支持者举行抗议活动，要求释放他们。[图片：Stringer/路透社]

据他所属的加沙团结船队组织称，加沙声援活动家瓦埃勒·纳瓦尔在发起绝食抗议其在突尼斯被拘留一个多月后入院治疗。

突尼斯人权捍卫联盟（LTDH）主席巴塞姆·特里菲周三表示，纳瓦尔“健康状况非常危急，濒临死亡”。

名单1/4：突尼斯船队活动人士仍被监禁，绝食者情况恶化

列表 2/4：数百人在突尼斯抗议，要求释放被监禁的加沙船队活动人士

名单3/4：突尼斯抗议者要求释放四名苏穆德运动人士

突尼斯洪水肆虐首都，暴雨导致驾车者和居民被困，造成首都交通瘫痪（列表4/4）

监狱发言人尚未就纳瓦尔的案件和状况发表评论。这位绝食抗议者要求当局撤销对他和其他三名活动人士的财务不当行为指控。

包括加森·亨奇里、加森·布格迪里和纳比勒·查努菲在内的四人于今年3月被捕，他们被指控滥用为“全球苏穆德船队”筹集的资金。“全球苏穆德船队”是一项旨在挑战以色列对加沙封锁的国际运动。他们目前仍被羁押候审。

“瓦埃勒·纳瓦尔正在医院接受治疗，突尼斯当局拒绝向他的家人或律师透露任何信息”，加沙苏穆德船队在一份声明中表示。

声明中写道：“就在此前不久，一名法官驳回了苏穆德四人组延长审前拘留期限的上诉。”声明还补充说，这名活动人士已经绝食39天了。

据他的律师称，这位亲巴勒斯坦活动人士体重减轻了 20 多公斤（44 磅），并且全身疼痛。

目前尚无任何活动人士被定罪，但他们仍因涉嫌“可疑资金流动”而接受调查。

周六，突尼斯至少有 11 人因参加要求释放被监禁的活动人士的抗议活动而被捕。

去年九月，前往加沙的船队启航，被以色列拦截，随后以色列拘留了这些活动人士，并将他们驱逐到这个北非国家。

被拘留的亲巴勒斯坦活动人士瓦埃勒·纳瓦尔的母亲哈米达·德里迪和她的儿子纳比勒·纳瓦尔坐在突尼斯家中看手机。[图片：路透社/Stringer]

苏穆德船队活动人士全国保卫委员会成员加森·布阿齐表示，纳瓦尔最近反复出现昏厥、呼吸困难和幻觉。

“现在他面临着真正的危险，”布阿齐在周六的抗议活动间隙告诉半岛电视台。

人权观察组织的一份报告称，他们记录了突尼斯当局将金融和刑事调查“武器化”，以此来对付民间社会活动人士。

政府否认这些起诉是出于政治动机，总统凯斯·赛义德表示，自由受到保障，司法独立，任何人都不凌驾于法律之上。