Tunisia frees prominent lawyer and critic of President Saied

Sonia Dahmani, arrested successful 2024 aft questioning authorities argumentation connected African refugees and migrants, says she hopes her merchandise volition people extremity of ‘nightmare’ for herself and different prisoners.

Tunisia has freed salient lawyer Sonia Dahmani, a vocal professional of President Kais Saied, aft a twelvemonth and a fractional successful prison.

Dahmani, who is besides a media commentator, is wide seen arsenic a starring dissenting dependable successful Tunisia, and her apprehension prompted section protests demanding her merchandise and planetary criticism.

She was convicted implicit comments during a tv quality that questioned the government’s stance connected undocumented African refugees and migrants successful Tunisia. When asked whether they would effort to enactment and “conquer” Tunisia, Dahmani said: “What benignant of bonzer state are we talking about? The 1 that fractional of its younker privation to leave?”

A tribunal said the comments had insulted Tunisia and dispersed mendacious accusation intended to harm it.

As Dahmani was released from a situation successful Manouba adjacent Tunis, dozens of her household members and activists chanted: “The constabulary state’s epoch of repression is over.”

She told reporters, “I anticipation this is the extremity of the nightmare for maine and each the different prisoners.”

Her lawyer Sami Ben Ghazi said the justness curate had issued a merchandise bid nether a strategy that enables prisoners to use for merchandise aft serving fractional their sentences.

The National Syndicate of Tunisian Journalists welcomed Dahmani’s merchandise and called for the merchandise of different detained journalists.

International and section rights groups said Dahmani’s imprisonment past twelvemonth marked a deepening crackdown connected dissent successful the North African country.

During a sweeping powerfulness drawback successful July 2021, Saied suspended parliament and expanded enforcement powerfulness truthful helium could regularisation by decree. Since then, the president has jailed galore of his critics.

Many of the powers that Saied had taken for himself were aboriginal enshrined successful a caller constitution, ratified successful a wide boycotted 2022 referendum, portion media figures and lawyers captious of Saied person been prosecuted and detained nether a harsh “fake news” law enacted that aforesaid year.

Saied says his actions are ineligible and aimed astatine ending years of chaos and rampant corruption.

Widespread crackdown

Amnesty International said this period that a crackdown connected rights groups has reached captious levels with arbitrary arrests, detentions, plus freezes, banking restrictions and suspensions targeting 14 NGOs.

Human Rights Watch said much than 50 people, including politicians, lawyers, journalists and activists, person been subjected to arbitrary apprehension oregon prosecution since precocious 2022 for exercising their rights to state of expression, peaceful assembly and governmental activity.

Early successful Saied’s tenure, his authorities focused its crackdown connected the Ennahdha Party.

Tunisian courts person handed respective jailhouse sentences to Ennahdha’s leader, erstwhile Parliament Speaker Rached Ghannouchi, successful cases that his supporters said are politically motivated.

Even Saied’s erstwhile allies person not been spared successful the crackdown.

Nadia Akacha, the Tunisian president’s erstwhile main of staff, who was considered 1 of his closest and astir influential aides, was sentenced to 35 years successful situation successful absentia successful July.