Wael Naouar was hospitalized on day 39 of a hunger strike against his detention in Tunisia. The head of a Tunisian human-rights group said he was in critical condition. Naouar and three other activists remain in pretrial detention over alleged financial misconduct; none has been.
Naouar and Ghassen Henchiri, Ghassen Boughdiri and Nabil Channoufi were arrested in March over accusations of misusing funds raised for the Global Sumud Flotilla, a campaign to challenge Israel’s blockade of Gaza. The flotilla said a judge rejected an appeal against extending the four activists’ pretrial detention.
Naouar’s lawyer said he had lost more than 20kg and was suffering pain throughout his body. A member of the activists’ defense committee also reported repeated fainting, difficulty breathing and hallucinations. The flotilla said authorities were withholding information from his family and lawyers; a prison spokesperson did not immediately comment. Human Rights Watch said it documented what it described as the “weaponisation” of financial and criminal investigations against civil society activists. Tunisia’s government denies the prosecutions are political.
