Tunisia upholds eight-year jail term for anti-racism activist

A Tunisian court on Tuesday upheld an eight-year prison sentence slapped on anti-racism activist Saadia Mosbah for financial misconduct, two of her lawyers said.

Mosbah, the head of the anti-discrimination Mnemty association, was detained in 2024 as part of a wider crackdown on several NGOs that provided help to undocumented migrants from sub-Saharan African countries in Tunisia.

Mosbah had been at the forefront of defending sub-Saharan migrants in Tunisia, particularly after a 2023 speech by President Kais Saied in which he denounced "hordes of illegal migrants" as a demographic threat.

Amnesty International in a statement has said her trial was "based on unfounded financial criminal charges".

Defence lawyers have insisted on Mosbah's innocence.

"Saadia is an activist and thanks to her, we have a law against racism that we are proud of," lawyer Hayet Jazzar earlier told the court, pointing to a 2018 law prohibiting racial discrimination.

Jazzar said the case against Mosbah, who is black, was "triggered by hate speech".

Bassem Trifi, another defence lawyer, also said Mosbah had been "targeted by a racist campaign on social media" shortly before her arrest in 2024.

She had told him "she felt something was strange," Trifi told the judge.

Amnesty has also said in the statement that Mosbah's verdict was "tainted" by a "coordinated racist smear campaign".

"We are particularly concerned by reports that Saadia Mosbah has been subjected to racism and a physical assault in prison that may amount to torture," the group added.