A Tunisian activist detained in connection with a pro-Palestinian flotilla campaign is in serious medical danger after more than three weeks without food, as international human rights groups raise broader alarm over the shrinking of civic space in Tunisia under President Kais Saied.

Wael Naouar, a member of the steering committee of the Global Sumud Flotilla, began his hunger strike on 16 August to protest his continued pre-trial detention. His lawyer Bassem Trifi, who also serves as president of the Tunisian League for Human Rights (LTDH), said Naouar has lost 18 kilograms and is suffering from low blood pressure, low blood sugar, and difficulty breathing, walking and speaking. "His life and his legacy will be longer and greater than those of those holding him," one supporter told a solidarity rally in Tunis on Sunday. Naouar himself has reportedly told his wife he will continue his strike "until the stars burn out." Naouar and three fellow activists — Nabil Channoufi, Ghassan Henchiri and Ghassan Boughdiri — remain in pre-trial detention after seven flotilla organisers were initially arrested in March. None has been convicted. The case, handled by Tunisia's Economic and Financial Judicial Pole — a specialised body that deals with major financial crimes — centres on allegations of money laundering, aggravated breach of trust and forgery, related to what prosecutors described as "suspicious financial flows" received by flotilla organisers. Trifi has argued that the fundraising in question was part of a public solidarity campaign conducted openly and with the knowledge of security services, and should not be treated as ordinary financial activity subject to procurement rules. Supporters of the four say the prosecution is designed to criminalise solidarity with Palestinians. Tunisian authorities have not publicly detailed the charges or responded to questions about Naouar's health. A court date is set for 16 September.

The flotilla case is unfolding alongside other high-profile arrests that have drawn condemnation from press freedom and human rights organisations. Mohamed Yousfi, editor-in-chief of the independent investigative outlet Alqatiba, was detained last week on financial crime charges as he arrived at a radio studio to discuss Tunisia's drinking water crisis — a topic that has driven street protests in recent weeks amid severe shortages of bottled water across the country. His lawyer said the charges contained "no concrete evidence" of wrongdoing, and Reporters Without Borders called for his immediate release, saying his detention was part of a campaign to silence him. The National Syndicate of Tunisian Journalists reported that Yousfi's health deteriorated in custody after he underwent surgery for appendicitis following his arrest.

The cases reflect a pattern documented in a Human Rights Watch report published last week, which described the "weaponisation" of financial and criminal investigations against civil society in Tunisia. The group said at least 47 people connected to NGOs had been prosecuted and at least 14 convicted and sentenced since 2025. Tunisia, a North African country of roughly 12 million people, was once celebrated as the sole democratic success story of the 2011 Arab Spring uprisings. That trajectory changed sharply in 2021, when Saied suspended parliament, dismissed the government and began ruling by decree, consolidating power across state institutions. His government maintains that prosecutions are legally grounded and that the judiciary operates independently. But critics, including a growing protest movement called Nafas that has organised demonstrations in Tunis, see the combination of political repression, economic deterioration and crumbling public services as symptoms of a deepening crisis. "We are faced with clear scenarios: prison, prosecution or exile," the head of the journalists' syndicate told reporters. "The authorities and the ruling establishment are repressing journalists."