Sonia Dahmani

Sonia Dahmani (Arabic: سنية الدهماني) is a Tunisian lawyer and media commentator. She has faced legal investigations, criminal prosecution, and penalties including imprisonment for her criticism of the Tunisian government. Since July 2024, she has been serving a prison sentence for allegedly spreading "false information".

Biography

Dahmani has frequently appeared on radio and television shows in Tunisia, including L'émission impossible on IFM Radio and Denya zida on Carthage+.[1]

In November 2023, Dahmani made critical comments about conditions in Tunisian prisons during a radio show. She was subsequently summoned by an investigative judge following a complaints made by the General Directorate of Prisons.[1]

In January 2024, Dahmani was summoned for a second time after Leïla Jaffel, the Tunisian Minister of Justice, complained about Dahmani's public comment stating that "putting people in prison is not an accomplishment".[1]

On 7 May 2024, Dahmani criticised the state of Tunisia during a televised debate on migration, asking "what extraordinary country are we talking about? The one where half of young people want to leave?". On 9 May, she announced that she had been summoned by an investigative judge for a third and time and that she was being investigated under Decree Law 54, which was purported to combat "false information and rumours" by the Tunisian government.[1]

Dahmani was formally arrested on 11 May 2024 at the Tunisian Bar Association's offices in Tunis by masked men. She was detained at Manouba Prison in conditions described by Amnesty International as "cruel and inhumane".[1][2][3]

Dahmani's trial started in July 2024; on 6 July, she was sentenced to one year's imprisonment for breaking Decree Law 54 by spreading "false news". The sentence was reduced on appeal to eight months.[2][4]

On 24 October 2024, it was announced that Dahmani, who remained detained, was facing an additional two years in prison for previous statements she had made prior to her sentence on IFM Radio in which she stated that sub-Saharan Africans faced racism in Tunisia.[2][5][6][7] On 30 June 2025, she was formally sentenced to an additional two years' imprisonment on charges of spreading "false news" in relation to her comments.[8][9][10] Dahmani's lawyers had left her trial in protest for her being tried for the second time for the same offence she was serving a prison sentence for, describing the case as double jeopardy.[8][11] The court denied Dahmani's defence, stating the 2025 trial was in respect of comments she made on a different media outlet to the charges she faced in her initial trial.[12]

Amnesty International and the Committee to Protect Journalists have both called for Tunisian authorities to immediately and unconditionally release Dahmani and quash the charges against her.[1][6]

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f "Tunisia: Unjustly Jailed Lawyer Treated Inhumanely". Amnesty International. Archived from the original on 2025-07-26. Retrieved 2025-08-03.
  2. ^ a b c "World Report 2025" (PDF). Human Rights Watch. 2025. Archived (PDF) from the original on 2025-07-28. Retrieved 2025-08-03.
  3. ^ Dumas, Marilyne (2024-05-11). "Tunisie : arrestation musclée de Sonia Dahmani à la Maison de l'avocat de Tunis". France 24 (in French). Archived from the original on 2025-03-05. Retrieved 2025-08-03.
  4. ^ "Tunisie : la peine de Sonia Dahmani réduite d'un an à huit mois de prison". Kapitalis (in French). 2024-09-11. Archived from the original on 2025-01-19. Retrieved 2025-08-03.
  5. ^ "En Tunisie, deux ans de prison pour Sonia Dahmani à la suite de déclarations médiatiques". Le Monde (in French). 2024-10-24. Archived from the original on 2025-07-23. Retrieved 2025-08-03.
  6. ^ a b "Jailed Tunisian commentator Sonia Dahmani given further 2-year sentence". Committee to Protect Journalists. 2024-10-25. Archived from the original on 2025-07-10. Retrieved 2025-08-03.
  7. ^ "عامان سجنا للمحامية التونسية سنية الدهماني بسبب تصريحاتها حول العنصرية الممارسة ضد المهاجرين". France 24 (in Arabic). 2024-10-24. Archived from the original on 2025-07-01. Retrieved 2025-08-03.
  8. ^ a b "Tunisia adds 2 more years to jailed commentator Sonia Dahmani's sentence". Committee to Protect Journalists. 2025-07-02. Archived from the original on 2025-07-02. Retrieved 2025-08-03.
  9. ^ "Tunisian court sentences prominent lawyer critical of president to two years". France 24. 2025-06-30. Archived from the original on 2025-07-11. Retrieved 2025-08-03.
  10. ^ al-Zaghlami, Thamer (2025-07-01). "محاكمة سنية الدهماني تُشعل الجدل في تونس: حكم سياسي أم تطبيق للقانون؟". Monte Carlo Doualiya (in Arabic). Archived from the original on 2025-07-02. Retrieved 2025-08-03.
  11. ^ "بسبب تصريح إعلامي.. حكم جديد بالسجن للمحامية التونسية سنية الدهماني". Al-Araby (in Arabic). 2025-07-01. Archived from the original on 2025-07-03. Retrieved 2025-08-03.
  12. ^ "Tunisia lawyer handed one-year sentence over critical comments". Macau Business. 2024-07-06. Archived from the original on 2024-07-07. Retrieved 2025-08-03.
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