The Ministry of Foreign Affairs said on Sunday that it was able to convince Tunisian authorities to speed up a trial for detained Egyptian fishermen. The trial session was initially scheduled to take place on 16 February but has been rescheduled to 26 January.

The fishermen are accused of illegally fishing in Tunisian regional waters, the ministry’s spokesperson said.

Two Egyptian fishing boats with a total of 19 fishermen were detained in October 2016 near Sfax port.

According to the ministry on Sunday, only three fishermen are still detained in Tunisia.