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Dahmani, a media commentator, is well-known in Tunisia as a leading voice of dissention, and her arrest led to local protests demanding her release and international criticism.

She was found guilty for making offensive remarks in a television interview that exposed Tunisian authorities’ policy toward undocumented African refugees and migrants. When asked if they would try to remain in Tunisia and “conquer” it, Dahmani replied, “What kind of extraordinary country are we talking about? the one that “half of its youth wants to leave”?

Tunisia was alleged to have been insulted by the comments and that it had been given false information to harm it.

Difficulty of Dahmani’s family and activists chanted, “The police state’s era of repression is over,” as she was released from a prison in Manouba, near Tunisia.

She expressed to the media that she hopes the prisoner collective’s suffering will be over.

According to her attorney Sami Ben Ghazi, the justice minister had issued a release order under a system that allows prisoners to request release after serving half their sentences.

Dahmani’s release was welcomed by the Tunisian Journalists’ National Syndicate, which also demanded that other journalists be freed.

Dahmani’s imprisonment last year, according to international and local rights organizations, was a further expansion of the country’s crackdown on dissent.

Saied expanded the executive branch and suspended parliament during a massive power grab in July 2021 to allow him to impose his will. The president has since jailed many of his critics.

Many of Saied’s rights were later ratified in a widely boycotted 2022 referendum, while media figures and attorneys who criticize him were prosecuted and detained under a strict “fake news” law passed that year.

Saeed claims that his actions are legitimate and aim to end years of secrecy and widespread corruption.

Widespread crackdown

This month, according to Amnesty International, 14 NGOs have been subject to arbitrary arrests, detentions, asset freezes, banking restrictions, and suspensions, which are all at critical levels in a crackdown on rights groups.

Since late 2022, according to Human Rights Watch, more than 50 people have been arbitrary detained or charged with violating their constitutional rights to freedom of expression, peaceful assembly, and political activity. This includes politicians, lawyers, journalists, activists, and lawyers.

Saied’s government initially focused its crackdown on the Ennahdha Party.

Rached Ghannouchi, the former parliament speaker, and his supporters allege that his supporters were politically motivated in cases where Tunisian courts have sentenced him to several jail terms.

Even Saied’s former allies were spared in the crackdown.

After more than nine months of detention, Israeli authorities released Palestinian American teenager Mohammed Ibrahim, who according to some experts embodies Israeli abuses of Palestinians in occupied West Bank.

Following months of pressure from American lawmakers and civil rights organizations, Mohammed’s release on Thursday came as a result.

In the town of al-Mazraa ash-Sharqiya, near Ramallah, the Florida teenager was detained and taken from his family home in February when he was 15 years old.

He lost weight dramatically as a 16-year-old while being held in an Israeli prison and developed a skin infection.

Mohammed’s uncle Zeyad Kadur stated in a statement that “words can’t describe the incredible relief we have as a family right now” in the presence of his parents.

Before his parents wrapped their arms around him and felt secure, “we couldn’t believe Mohammed was free.”

Mohammed was detained after he denied allegedly throwing rocks at Israeli settlers. Mohammed was blindfolded and beaten during the raid on his family home in February, according to his father Zaher Ibrahim and other family members.

He was denied access to his family while he was imprisoned by Israeli authorities, and he had no visitation rights. Only US officials, who had access to Mohammed, provided updates that his family members were receiving.

His family members pleaded with US President Donald Trump’s administration to press for his release or at least ensure that he had access to safe food and medical care throughout his detention.

In a statement released on Thursday, Kadur claimed that “Israeli soldiers had no right to take Mohammed from us in the first place.”

Our family has been living a horrifying and unending nightmare for more than nine months, especially Mohammed’s mother and father, who are aware that Israeli soldiers are starving and beating their youngest child.

In response to rumors that Mohammed’s health was deteriorating, the pressure to release him grew more recent.

27 US lawmakers wrote in a letter to the Trump administration last month to demand that they press Israel to free him.

Sen. Chris Van Hollen, a prominent member of the Democratic Party, has also been campaigning to get Mohammed’s release.

The family plans to celebrate Mohammed’s release by celebrating his 16th birthday with his mother Muna serving his favorite meal, according to the statement from Thursday. It thanked those who pushed for his release.