Sonia Dahmani, arrested in 2024 after questioning government policy on African refugees and migrants, says she hopes her release will be the end of a ‘nightmare’ for her and other prisoners.
Tunisia has released prominent lawyer Sonia Dahmani, a vocal critic of President Kais Saied, after a year and a half in prison.
Dahmani, who is also a media commentator, is widely seen as a leading dissenting voice in Tunisia, and his arrest prompted local protests demanding his release and international criticism.
He was convicted for comments he made during a television presentation that questioned the government’s stance on undocumented African refugees and migrants in Tunisia. Asked if he would try to stay and “win” Tunisia, Dahmani said: “What kind of extraordinary country are we talking about? Which half of its youth want to leave?”
A court said the comments insulted Tunisia and spread misinformation intended to harm it.
As Dahmani was released from a prison in Manouba, near Tunis, dozens of his family members and activists chanted: “The era of police state repression is over.”
“I hope this is the end of the nightmare for me and all the other prisoners,” he told reporters.
His lawyer Sami Ben Ghazi said the Justice Minister issued the release order under a system that enables prisoners to apply for release after serving half their sentence.
The National Syndicate of Tunisian Journalists welcomed Dahmani’s release and called for the release of other detained journalists.
International and local rights groups said Dahmani’s imprisonment last year marked a deepening crackdown on dissent in the North African country.
In a sweeping power grab in July 2021, Saied suspended parliament and expanded executive power so he could rule by decree. Since then, the president has jailed many of his critics.
Many of the powers Saeed took for himself were later enshrined in a new constitution, approved in a widely boycotted 2022 referendum, while media personalities and lawyers critical of Saeed were prosecuted and detained under a harsh “fake news” law enacted the same year.
Saeed says his actions are legal and aimed to end years of lawlessness and widespread corruption.
comprehensive action
Amnesty International said this month that the crackdown on rights groups has reached severe levels, with arbitrary arrests, detentions, asset freezes, banking restrictions and suspensions targeting 14 NGOs.
More than 50 people, including politicians, lawyers, journalists, and activists, have been arbitrarily arrested or prosecuted since late 2022 for exercising their rights to freedom of expression, peaceful assembly, and political activity, Human Rights Watch said.
At the beginning of Saied’s tenure, his government focused its efforts on the Ennahdha party.
Tunisian courts have sentenced Ennahdha’s leader, former parliament speaker Rached Ghannouchi, to prison in several cases that his supporters say are politically motivated.
Even Saeed’s former associates have not been spared in this action.
The Tunisian president’s former chief of staff Nadia Akacha, considered one of his closest and most influential aides, was sentenced in July to 35 years in prison in absentia.
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