/ / Urgent Action: UNJUSTLY JAILED LAWYER TREATED INHUMANELY (Tunisia Second UA 43.24)

UNJUSTLY JAILED LAWYER TREATED INHUMANELY

UA: Second 43.24 Tunisia

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Tunisian lawyer and media personality, Sonia Dahmani, has been arbitrarily detained since security forces arrested her from the Tunisian Bar Associations’ office in Tunis on May 11, 2024. She is facing five separate legal proceedings, all stemming from the exercise of her right to freedom of expression. Sonia Dahmani is currently held in the Manouba prison in cruel and inhuman conditions including exposure to extreme cold and lack of access to basic necessities. The Tunisian authorities must immediately and unconditionally release Sonia Dahmani, quash her unjust convictions, and drop the baseless criminal investigations against her.

PLEASE TAKE ACTION AS SOON AS POSSIBLE UNTIL: June 16, 2025

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Step 1

Write your letter

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Remember to send your letter by June 17, 2025.

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Sample Letter

Your Excellency,

I write to you to express my grave concern over the prolonged unjust imprisonment of Tunisian lawyer, Sonia Dahmani. She is imprisoned for exercising her right to freedom of expression, including publicly criticizing conditions of detention in Tunisian prisons as well as the ill-treatment of refugees and migrants in the country.

Following her public comments during her regular appearances on television and radio shows, Tunisian authorities have initiated five separate legal proceedings against her. She was convicted and sentenced to imprisonment in two cases.

Sonia Dahmani is enduring cruel and inhuman conditions of detention in prison. She faces extreme temperature fluctuations, with freezing cold during the winter due to a broken window. She has developed serious health issues. Sonia Dahmani is also denied basic necessities and adequate healthcare like clean clothing and medication, while being subjected to humiliating treatment by prison guards.

I urge you to immediately and unconditionally release Sonia Dahmani, quash her unjust convictions and sentences, and drop the baseless criminal investigations against her. Pending her release, she must be granted access to her family, lawyers, and adequate healthcare and held in conditions that meet international standards for the treatment of prisoners.

Yours sincerely,

[YOUR NAME]

Sample Social Post

@TnPresidency Tunisian lawyer Sonia Dahmani has spent 7 months arbitrarily detained simply for exercising her human rights. She is detained in cruel and inhuman conditions. Call on the authorities to release her now, quash her convictions & drop pending investigations

Tweet @TnPresidency

Step 2

Send your letter

Mail your letter to the government officials listed below. You can also email, fax, call, or post about them on social media.

Send your letter to:

President of the Republic Kais Saied

Route de la Goulette

Site archéologique de Carthage, Tunisie

[email protected] @TnPresidency

and

Tunisian Ambassador Mrs. Hanene Tajouri Bessassi

Embassy of Tunisia in the United States

1515 Massachusetts Avenue,

NW, Washington DC 20005

[email protected]

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