Tunisia: Stop criminalizing speech and end the persecution of Sonia Dahmani and Rached Khiari

Skyline International for Human Rights (SIHR) strongly condemns the prison sentences handed down on April 13, 2026, against lawyer and media commentator Sonia Dahmani and former member of parliament Rached Khiari. Both rulings were issued by the Criminal Chamber of the Tunis Court of Appeal on the same day, in cases rooted entirely in the peaceful exercise of free expression. These sentences are the latest evidence of how the Tunisian authorities are systematically using the judiciary and repressive legislation to criminalize speech and silence anyone who dares to criticize government policy.

Sonia Dahmani sentenced to 18 months for speaking about racism

On April 13, the Tunis Court of Appeal sentenced Sonia Dahmani to 18 months in prison in a case known publicly as "Racism 2." The conviction is based on statements she made on television about discrimination against sub-Saharan African migrants and against Black Tunisians more broadly. She was prosecuted under Article 24 of Decree-Law 54, the repressive cybercrime law that President Kais Saied signed into force in September 2022.

Dahmani's persecution has been relentless. On May 11, 2024, masked security forces in civilian clothing stormed the Tunisian Bar Association headquarters in Tunis to arrest her, in a scene that drew widespread condemnation from bar associations and human rights organizations worldwide. The arrest followed critical remarks she made on a television program about Tunisia's migration policies.

On July 6, 2024, a Tunis Court of First Instance sentenced her to one year in prison under Decree 54. That sentence was reduced to eight months on appeal. On October 24, 2024, she received a second conviction under the same decree for her statements on racism, this time for two years, later reduced to a year and a half on appeal on January 24, 2025. She spent one year, six months, and sixteen days in detention before being released on November 27, 2025, on conditional terms. With the April 13 ruling, she now faces a fresh 18-month sentence and risks being returned to prison at any moment.

During her time in Manouba prison, Dahmani reported cruel and degrading treatment, including a violent strip search that led her to file a complaint alleging torture and sexual assault by prison staff. Her lawyers say she still faces additional pending cases, all connected to her public commentary. In 2025, the Committee to Protect Journalists recognized her with the International Press Freedom Award, noting the global significance of her case.

Rached Khiari sentenced to 6 months for social media posts

On the same day, the Tunis Court of Appeal sentenced former parliamentarian and journalist Rached Khiari to six months in prison for "harming others via public telecommunications networks," under Article 86 of the Telecommunications Code. The case originated from a complaint filed by a former fellow parliamentarian over posts Khiari published on social media. The Court of First Instance had initially imposed an eight-month sentence, which the appeals court reduced to six months.

Khiari, 42, has been prosecuted repeatedly since 2021 for his criticism of the authorities. He spent more than two years behind bars across multiple speech-related cases. In 2021, a military court issued an arrest warrant against him after he publicly alleged that President Saied had received foreign funding for his presidential campaign. He was arrested in August 2022 after spending five months in hiding. In March 2023, a military appeals court sentenced him to six months for "conspiring against state security" and "undermining military discipline." In February 2025, he was sentenced to one year in prison for online posts. He was released in November 2025 after serving the full term, only to now face yet another prison sentence for the same kind of activity.

A legal framework built to silence

These two cases did not happen in a vacuum. Since President Saied's seizure of extraordinary powers on July 25, 2021, the Tunisian authorities have built and deployed a legal arsenal designed to turn any form of public criticism into a criminal offense.

Decree-Law 54, the centerpiece of this arsenal, imposes sentences of up to five years in prison for spreading vaguely defined "false information" through communication networks, with the penalty doubled when the target of the speech is a public official. Article 86 of the Telecommunications Code, which carries up to two years in prison for "harming others" through telecommunications networks, has long been weaponized against journalists and critics. Together, these laws give prosecutors a flexible and nearly limitless toolkit for punishing speech.

The scale of the crackdown is staggering. According to a joint count by Human Rights Watch and Amnesty International, over 70 people have been subjected to arbitrary prosecutions since late 2022 for exercising their internationally protected rights. The victims span every segment of society. Artist Rached Tamboura spent two full years in prison for painting graffiti denouncing the president's racist remarks about sub-Saharan migrants. Journalist Ghassen Ben Khelifa was sentenced in March 2026 to two years in prison. Journalist Zied el-Heni was sentenced under Article 86 for criticizing a government minister on the radio. Lawyer Abdelaziz Essid was convicted for alleging that authorities tampered with his clients' case file. The list goes on.

Skyline International for Human Rights calls on the Tunisian authorities to:

• Immediately overturn the convictions of Sonia Dahmani and Rached Khiari and ensure that neither faces further imprisonment for the peaceful exercise of free expression.
• Repeal Decree-Law 54 in its entirety, along with the vague and overbroad provisions of Article 86 of the Telecommunications Code and other laws that have been used to criminalize speech.
• Release all individuals currently detained or serving sentences for peacefully expressing their views, whether through media appearances, social media posts, or artistic expression.
• End the use of military courts to try civilians for speech-related offenses, in line with international fair trial standards.
• Bring Tunisia's legal framework into full compliance with the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights and the African Charter on Human and Peoples' Rights, both of which Tunisia has ratified.