Sonia Dhamani, a well-known lawyer and renowned critic of President Kais Said, was sentenced to two years in prison by a Tunisian court, according to lawyers. The case, according to rights groups, shows a growing crackdown on dissent in the North African nation.
After the judge refused to adjourn the trial on Monday, Dhamani’s attorneys withdrew from the trial, alleging that the defendant was facing two counts of attempted murder.
Dhamani was given a sentence by the court for making statements that criticized sub-Saharan Africa’s practices.
The verdict was described as a “grave injustice,” according to lawyer Bassem Trifi.
“What’s happening is a farce,” the statement goes. Sami Ben Ghazi, a different Dhamani lawyer, claimed that Sonia is facing two charges for the same statement.
Dhamani was detained last year after making remarks that questioned the government’s position on undocumented African refugees and migrants in Tunisia during a television interview.
The case was brought under Decree 54, the country’s controversial cybercrime law, which has received widespread condemnation from local and international human rights organizations.
Since Saied seized control of the majority of the powers, disbanded the elected parliament, and formally ruled by decree in 2021, the opposition has characterized this as a coup, with the opposition claiming this was a coup. Most opposition leaders, journalists, and critics of Saied have been imprisoned.
Saied refutes the accusations, claims that his actions are legal and intended to end years of chaos and widespread corruption, and that they are legal.
Saeed is using the judiciary and police to attack his political opponents, according to activists and human rights organizations.
Said refutes these accusations, saying that he will not be a dictator and that he will hold everyone accountable for their actions regardless of their name or position.
In a massive trial earlier this year, dozens of defendants received 66-year jail terms. The trial was criticized as being politically motivated and baseless by critics.
According to their attorneys, the defendants were charged with “conspiracy against state security” and “belonging to a terrorist group.”
Former Ennahda leaders Rached Ghannouchi, Hichem Mechichi, former prime minister, and Noureddine Bhiri, former justice minister, were among those who were the targets.
Tunisia’s strong political activism among its citizens and civil society members, who frequently took to the airwaves and streets to make their voices heard, had been hailed as perhaps the only democratic triumph of the 2011 “Arab Spring” revolutions.
A healthy political system was established in the years that followed the revolution, which overthrew long-standing autocrat Zine El Abidine Ben Ali, with numerous elections declared free and fair by international observers.
Source: Aljazeera
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