Masked Tunisian police arrest distinguished lawyer for media feedback | Human Rights Information

A distinguished Tunisian lawyer and two journalists have been arrested within the newest transfer of a presidential administration that has proven little tolerance for criticism.

The arrest of lawyer and commentator Sonia Dahmani on Saturday night time was caught on digital camera as she was bundled out of the Attorneys’ Home, a part of the nation’s authorized union, the place she had been sheltering.

The identical night, TV and radio presenter Borhen Bssais and political commentator Mourad Zeghidi had been additionally arrested for feedback concerning the administration, earlier than being held beneath a “48-hour detention warrant and [they] should seem earlier than an analyzing Justice of the Peace”, their lawyer Ghazi Mrabet informed the AFP information company.

Dahmani was arrested after she refused to answer a summons issued on Thursday for questioning. The summons was reportedly relating to feedback she made on a tv programme on Wednesday.

Showing on the Donya Zina programme on the Carthage Plus channel, Dahmani had responded to host Braham Bsiss throughout a dialogue on whether or not the sub-Saharan African refugees and migrants transiting Tunisia would attempt to keep there and “conquer” the nation.

“What sort of extraordinary nation are we speaking about? The one which half of its youth wish to go away?” she remarked, indicating that Tunisia was not a gorgeous nation to settle given the plummeting way of life that was pushing its youth to depart.

The AFP reported that many viewers discovered Dahmani’s remark “degrading” to Tunisia’s picture and a summons to look earlier than an investigating choose was issued.

Dahmani was on the identical present two weeks in the past, delivering an impassioned broadside to the federal government and President Kais Saied for “turning Tunisia into border guards for Europe” and “permitting a plan to show it into ‘Lampedusa’”, in reference to the Italian island the place undocumented refugees and migrants land.

Dahmani mentioned she didn’t reply to Thursday’s summons as a result of it didn’t state a purpose for its issuance nor did it present supporting documentation.

As a substitute, she sought refuge on the Attorneys’ Home, affiliated with the Tunisian Order of Attorneys (ONAT), which was subsequently raided to arrest her.

Plenty of journalists protecting the case had been additionally arrested, together with Mourad Zghidi, Borhen Bsaies and Maryline Dumas of France 24, who filmed a part of the arrest throughout her report. All of them have since been launched.

Nevertheless, Dahmani’s whereabouts stay unknown.

Translation: Tunisian journalist Sonia Dahmani was taken by drive by hooded brokers dwell on France 24 throughout a dwell broadcast of Maryline Dumas. Journalists around the globe can not work peacefully.

Zeghidi was arrested in reference to a Fb publish supporting imprisoned journalist Mohamed Boughalleb, who was sentenced to 6 months in jail for defamation of a public official, in addition to for “statements made throughout tv reveals since February”, his lawyer mentioned. The precise causes for Bsaies’s arrest are unclear, however his lawyer prompt it was in reference to Decree 54, a controversial legislation outlawing the unfold of “false information” on digital networks that “could hurt public safety or nationwide defence”.

Reacting to Dahmani’s arrest, Laarousi Zguir, head of the Tunis division of the Tunisian Attorneys’ Bar, mentioned at a information convention later that night, “We had been taken without warning round 8:45pm by the sudden raid of many masked people who broke our workplace’s doorways and verbally in addition to bodily assaulted legal professionals.”

In keeping with experiences, Dahmani may be charged with breaching Decree 54.

Anybody discovered responsible beneath Decree 54 can face a five-year jail sentence and a positive of fifty,000 Tunisian dinars ($15,600), doubling to 10-year imprisonment if the “false experiences” embrace a public official.

Tunisia’s Bar Affiliation has referred to as for a common regional strike in all Tunis courts starting on Monday in response to Saturday’s raid.

The difficulty of irregular migration is delicate in Tunisia, with journalists typically blocked from accessing the tens of 1000’s of irregular arrivals compelled to shelter within the olive fields close to the coastal metropolis of Sfax, ready for a ship out.

Becoming a member of the Black refugees and migrants hoping emigrate to Europe are many Tunisian youth, hoping to flee the nation’s deteriorating monetary circumstances.

In 2023, 17,322 Tunisian nationals arrived with out paperwork in Italy, the Tunisian Discussion board for Financial and Social Rights reported.