Prominent Tunisian rights activist Sihem Bensedrine told AFP on Friday that she had been sentenced to 25 years in prison on charges including falsifying part of a transitional justice commission's final report. "Of course, this is a decision that has nothing to do with justice. It has to do with a totalitarian regime that wants to erase the legacy of the IVD," Bensedrine said, referring to the Truth and Dignity Commission of which she was president. Bensedrine, 75, said she would lodge an appeal. She had been placed in pre-trial detention for over six months following her arrest in August 2024. Prosecutors accused Bensedrine of falsifying the commission's final report, among other charges. Bensedrine said she had been targeted by "officials who are holding the state hostage" in order to "settle scores" and "discredit our work". Human Rights Watch said in a statement "Bensedrine has for decades been harassed, jailed, and pushed into exile for her human rights work. Her sentence would keep her in prison until she's 100 years old." The Paris-headquartered International Federation for Human Rights (FIDH) has said the charges against Bensedrine were "groundless". The commission's final report, published in 2020, called for "dismantling a system of corruption, repression and dictatorship" within state institutions.
