Tunisia detains seven Gaza flotilla activists Submitted by MEE staff on Tue, 03/17/2026 - 10:24 Global Sumud condemned ‘a troubling break with Tunisia's long history of solidarity with the Palestinian people’ after arrests Swedish activist Greta Thunberg from the Global Sumud Flotilla in Genoa, Italy, on 28 November 2025 (Piero Cruciatti/AFP) Off A Tunisian judge on Monday ordered the pre-trial detention of seven members of the new pro-Palestinian flotilla, Global Sumud, based on suspicions of money laundering under the country's anti-terrorism law. On 6 March, local media reported that several members of the Tunisian Coordination of the Sumud Flotilla were arrested, including Wael Naouar, his wife Jawaher Channa, Nabil Chennoufi, Mohamed Amine Bennour, and Sana M’hidli. After their hearing and ten days in police custody, an arrest warrant was issued against the activists for "forming a money laundering conspiracy", lawyer Sami Ben Ghazi told AFP. The case is linked to a fundraising initiative during the first Global Sumud Flotilla in September, their lawyer added, without providing further details. In a Facebook post published on Monday, he lamented that arrest warrants had been issued against his clients without them even being questioned. “What happened today was not a substantive interrogation, but rather the presentation of a barrage of accusations against our clients,” he wrote. 'The regime is repressing all forms of political and social activism, including in support of the Palestinian cause' - Mahdi Elleuch, Tunisian activist Substantive interrogations are expected to begin in the coming days, the defence said. Dozens of protesters gathered outside the Financial Judicial Centre to oppose the prosecution of the activists. "The regime is repressing all forms of political and social activism, including in support of the Palestinian cause. It's always the same process: using baseless charges, particularly money laundering, relying