Ahead of an upcoming hearing on 19 June during which the Tunis appeals court will re-examine the conviction of
Saadia Mosbah
, a prominent Tunisian Black human rights defender, and five of her colleagues from the anti-racist organization Mnemty, based on unfounded financial criminal charges stemming from their human rights work, Amnesty International’s North Africa researcher Safia Rayan said:
“The initial verdict issued on 19 March against Saadia Mosbah and other Mnemty staff and collaborators, among them four who now risk imminent arrest, is shocking and profoundly unjust. It is another appalling indictment of the Tunisian authorities’ ongoing weaponization of the criminal justice system to silence civil society. It is shocking how far the authorities are willing to go in their assault on the right to freedom of association and human rights work, disproportionately targeting Black and anti-racism defenders.
“The Tunisian authorities have been using bogus financial criminal charges to target and harass perceived critics. This verdict follows the
conviction
of five other NGO workers and confirms the chilling
escalation
in the authorities’ crackdown of civic space.
“The coordinated racist smear campaign and stigmatization of NGOs fuelling this crackdown have tainted this verdict, undermining the defendants’ rights to a fair trial and to be protected from discrimination. We are particularly concerned by reports that Saadia Mosbah has been subjected to racism and a physical assault in prison that may amount to torture, amid the failure of the authorities to investigate her claims. Two other Black defendants also faced racial discrimination during the investigation, which judicial authorities failed to address during trial.
We call on the Tunisian authorities to immediately and unconditionally release Saadia Mosbah and quash the conviction against her and the other Mnemty staff and collaborators.
Safia Rayan, Amnesty International
“We call on t
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