Sonia Dahmani, a Tunisian lawyer and columnist, was sentenced to two years in jail for criticizing prison conditions. The Tunis Court of First Instance issued the verdict after a hearing, following a complaint by the General Administration of Prisons tied to a 2023 radio interview. Her lawyer said an appeal was lodged. Dahmani faces prosecution in five separate cases linked to media statements and based on Decree 54, a false information law condemned by human rights groups as political repression. She previously received 18-month sentences for remarks on television about migrants and for criticism of cemeteries and buses reserved for Black people. She was arrested in May 2024 by masked police and released on conditional parole in November after more than 18 months in detention. Human rights organizations report a sharp increase in repression since Saied seized power in 2021, with lawyers, journalists, and activists targeted under Decree 54 or anti-terrorism charges.
"Dahmani was arrested in May 2024 at the headquarters of the Bar Association by masked police officers, in what her colleagues described as a brutal and illegal operation. She was released on conditional parole last November after more than 18 months in detention. Human rights organisations have raised alarm over what they describe as a sharp increase in repression since Saied seized power in a coup in July 2021."
Read at www.aljazeera.com
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