Tunisie : Lawyer Sonia Dahmani sentenced to two years in prison
Paris, le 4 July 2025 – The OIAD expresses its deepest concern following the sentence handed down on 30 June 2025 against Tunisian lawyer and columnist Sonia Dahmani. The two-year sentence pronounced on the lawyer comes in addition to a previous two-year sentence as part of proceedings marred by violations of the rights of defence and the right to a fair trial.
Ms Dahmani is currently facing charges in five cases related to public statements and media comments. She was convicted, in addition to other things, for criticising racism against migrants and denouncing the existence of separate cemeteries and transport for black people in certain regions of Tunisia.
The OIAD attended the hearing on 30 June 2025. The exceptions raised by the defence were rejected by the court without any discussion of the evidence or examination of the case. The conviction, ruled on in the evening, is a clear violation of the right to a fair trial, which is protected by the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, ratified by Tunisia in 1969.
L’arrestation de Me Dahmani le 11 mai 2024, au siège de l’Ordre national des avocats de Tunisie par des agents en civil et masqués, avait déjà suscité une vive émotion dans la profession et dans la société civile tunisienne.
With Tunisia being the focus country for the International Day of Fair Trial in 2025, this new sentence illustrates the judicial harassment to which lawyers and human rights defenders have been subjected in the country since the authoritarian drift initiated by President Kaïs Saïed.
The OIAD condemns in the strongest possible terms the judicial harassment of Sonia Dahmani and reiterates its unwavering solidarity with the Tunisian legal profession, which is seriously threatened in the independent exercise of its mission.
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