The accusation chamber near the Tunis Court of Appeal decided this week to send the lawyer Sonia Dahmani this week to the criminal chamber of the Tunis first instance court. It will be continued under the decree-law n ° 54 relating to the fight against offenses linked to information and communication systems.
This decision comes following a complaint filed against it by the Directorate General of Prisons and Rehabilitation. The case concerns declarations made by the lawyer regarding the conditions of detention in Tunisian prisons, words deemed defamatory by the penitentiary authorities.
It should be recalled that the Court of Cassation had, in a previous judgment, canceled the initial dismissal decision of Sonia Dahmani to the criminal chamber. She had ordered the return of the file to the accusation chamber so that he was re -examined by a new judicial training.
This new judicial development relaunches the questions around the application of the decree-law n ° 54, very criticized by the defenders of human rights, who denounce a liberticide text undermining freedom of expression.
Sonia Dahmani is a known figure in the Tunisian bar, often present in the media where she intervenes on news and human rights issues.
