Tunisian rights activist sentenced to 25 years in prison

By AFP

Prominent Tunisian human 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 hope for the region after decades of authoritarianism, but rights groups have reported a democratic 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,” the Truth and Dignity Commission, of which she was president, Bensedrine said.

The 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.