Tunisia frees prominent lawyer and critic of President Saied

After serving a year and a half in prison, Tunisia released prominent lawyer Sonia Dahmani, who vocally criticizes President Kais Said.

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.