The lawyer and columnist Sonia Dahmani, incarcerated in the Manouba prison since May 11, 2024, is scheduled to appear this Tuesday before the court in the context of a case opposing him to the prison administration. Prosecuted in several files, it risks a total of several years in prison if all the convictions are confirmed.
Five legal proceedings
A known figure in the bar and television sets, Sonia Dahmani faces five distinct cases. Three of them have already led to convictions, while two others are still under investigation.
First case (May 2023): Ironic remarks on the situation of the country – “Hayla Lebled” (the country is formidable) – have earned him a sentence to one year in prison, reduced to eight months on appeal. Pain purged, but an appeal in cassation remains unanswered.
IFM case: controversial declarations on the existence of separate cemeteries according to skin color earned him two years in prison at first instance, brought back to 18 months on appeal in January 2025. It is currently serving this sentence.
Carthage+ case: continued for similar comments on buses segregation, it was tried on June 16, 2025. The verdict is under deliberation.
The trial against the prison administration
The file examined this Tuesday concerns a complaint from the Directorate General of Prisons. In question, criticisms formulated by Sonia Dahmani on the antenna, denouncing the conditions of detention in Tunisia. A first hearing was held on June 24, 2025, and the case returns today to justice.
A fifth file also opposes Sonia Dahmani to the Minister of Justice, Leïla Jaffel.
Support for civil society
The case of Sonia Dahmani aroused a large mobilization. Several human rights organizations – including FIDH, Amnesty International, Adala for All and Intersection Association for Rights and Freedoms – denounce attacks on freedom of expression and ask for its release.
In Tunisia, associations like Aswat Nissa as well as many lawyers have expressed their solidarity, recalling that its prosecution is a worrying precedent for the independence of the profession.
The UGTT, for its part, supported the bar and condemned the arrest of the lawyer, considered as an attack on freedoms.
Finally, a digital mobilization has developed on social networks, with support campaigns and calls for the Reformation of Decree-Law 54.
