Prominent Tunisian rights activist Sihem Bensedrine sentenced to 25 years

Prominent Tunisian rights activist Sihem Bensedrine told AFP on Friday that she had been sentenced to 25 years in prison on charges including falsifying part of a transitional justice commission's final report.

Tunisia emerged from the Arab Spring uprisings of 2011 as a beacon of democratic hope for the region after decades of authoritarianism, but rights groups have reported backsliding under President Kais Saied. "Of course, this is a decision that has nothing to do with justice.

It has to do with a totalitarian regime that wants to erase the legacy of the IVD," Bensedrine said, referring to the Truth and Dignity Commission of which she was president. Bensedrine, 75, said she would lodge an appeal. She had been placed in pre-trial detention for over six months following her arrest in August 2024.

The now-defunct IVD, set up after the 2011 revolution ousted longtime ruler Zine El Abidine Ben Ali, heard testimony from thousands of his victims and those of his predecessor Habib Bourguiba.

Prosecutors accused Bensedrine of falsifying the commission's final report, among other charges. Bensedrine said she had been targeted by "officials who are holding the state hostage" in order to "settle scores" and "discredit our work".

Human Rights Watch said in a statement Bensedrine's sentencing "reflects the cruelty of President Kais Saied's government, which has sought to strangle human rights and social justice in Tunisia".

"Bensedrine has for decades been harassed, jailed, and pushed into exile for her human rights work," the group added. "Her sentence would keep her in prison until she's 100 years old." The Paris-headquartered International Federation for Human Rights (FIDH) has said the charges against Bensedrine were "groundless".

"The message sent by Kais Saied's regime is clear: seeking the truth is forbidden, the Ben Ali dictatorship is now untouchable," said the FIDH along with the World Organisation Against Torture (OMCT) in a statement.

The commission's final report, published in 2020, called for "dismantling a system of corruption, repression and dictatorship" within state institutions.