Newsletters Events
Logo Logo
The Middle Eastʼs leading independent news source since 2012

Search

Tunisia frees prominent lawyer Sonia Dahmani, a critic of the president

AL-Monitor
Nov 27, 2025
Lawyers carry banners during a protest against the arrest of Sonia Dahmani, a prominent lawyer critical of the president, outside the Palace of Justice building in Tunis, Tunisia May 13, 2024. REUTERS/Jihed Abidellaoui
Lawyers carry banners during a protest against the arrest of Sonia Dahmani, a prominent lawyer critical of the president, outside the Palace of Justice building in Tunis, Tunisia May 13, 2024. REUTERS/Jihed Abidellaoui — Jihed Abidellaoui

TUNIS (Reuters) -Tunisia released on Thursday prominent lawyer and human-rights advocate Sonia Dahmani, a vocal critic of President Kais Saied, after she spent a year-and-a-half in prison over comments in which she criticized Saied’s policies.

Dahmani is widely seen as one of the leading voices defending freedom in Tunisia, and her arrest brought a wave of solidarity from lawyers and civil-society activists, who said the case carried a political dimension.

TAP state news agency quoted a judicial source as saying that Dahmani was freed under a conditional release order issued by the justice minister.

(Reporting by Tarek Amara; editing by Alexandra Hudson)