A Tunisian court issues a new arrest warrant against lawyer Sonia Dahmani

MADRID 11 Oct. (EUROPA PRESS) –

The Court of First Instance of Tunisia has issued this Thursday a new arrest warrant against the lawyer and journalist Sonia Dahmani after appearing before the court for a case opened against her within the framework of decree 54, a law approved in 2022 and on which numerous civil society and international organizations expressed concern because they considered it would undermine freedom of expression.

The court has also decided to postpone the consideration of his case until the next session, set for October 17, at the request of the defense, as reported by the Tunisian radio station Mossaique FM.

In mid-September, the aforementioned court reduced the sentence handed down against him to eight months in prison for “spreading false rumors” after stating during a television program that racist practices still exist in the country. The case was opened on May 11, when Dahmani was detained by security forces at her home following the aforementioned statements, considered an attempt to “incite violence and spread hate speech among people.”

The president of Tunisia, Kais Saied, advocated at the beginning of the year to “end” the irregular migration of sub-Saharans, arguing that it leads to “violence, crimes and unacceptable practices”, which led to a cascade of condemnations by the United Nations. and African countries.

CASE AGAINST CHAIMA ISSA

On the other hand, the Military Court of Appeals has reduced the sentence against the opposition member Chaima Issa, belonging to the National Salvation Front (FSN), whose prison sentence will go from one year to six months, which she must serve on provisional release.

The aforementioned court convicted her ‘in absentia’ at the beginning of May for allegedly “inciting soldiers” to disobey orders in statements made to the media, although this Thursday’s decision comes after Issa herself appeared before the court. court.

Saied assumed additional powers in 2021 when he closed the elected Parliament, dominated by the Islamic Ennahda formation, and went on to govern by decree before assuming authority over the judiciary, an action by which he assumed all state powers and considered by his critics like a self-coup d’état.

The opposition, mostly united around the National Salvation Front (FSN), has denounced for more than two years an authoritarian drift by the president of Saied, and has demanded his resignation, especially given the wave of arrests of opponents, activists and journalists. , as well as the low participation rates in the constitutional referendum and the elections held since then in Tunisia.