On 30 June 2025, the Tunis Court of First Instance sentenced journalist and media commentator Sonia Al-Dahmani to two years in prison following her conviction in a case linked to a media statement in which she criticised racist practices against African migrants. Al-Dahmani has faced ongoing judicial harassment since her arbitrary arrest on 11 May 2024, when masked security forces in civilian clothing stormed the National Bar Association headquarters in Tunis. Her arrest came after she made televised remarks questioning the government’s stance on migrants in Tunisia.

A total of five separate cases have been brought against her under Article 24 of Decree-Law No. 54 on so-called “false news” charges. On 10 September 2024, the Court of Appeal reduced a July 2024 first-instance sentence from one year in prison to eight months, in a fast-tracked trial where she was denied a proper defense. The case was tied to her appearance on a talk show on Carthage TV, during which she commented on accusations that African migrants sought to settle in Tunisia, responding with the phrase “Shouf el-bled el-haïla” (“What a great country”). Authorities deemed this remark “insulting” to the nation.

She has been sentenced to a total of four years and two months in prison, and detained at the Manouba Women’s Prison, under harsh and humiliating conditions.  She was released on 27 November 2025.