Human Rights Watch (HRW) and Amnesty International have condemned the Tunisian authorities’ prosecution and detention of prominent human rights lawyer Ahmed Souab, whose appeal trial is scheduled to open on February 12 at the Tunis Court of Appeal.
Souab, a former administrative judge and long-standing critic of executive interference in the judiciary, was arrested on April 21, 2025 and sentenced in October 2025 to five years in prison after what Amnesty International describes as a “grossly unfair trial” that “lasted just seven minutes.”
He has been held at El Mornaguia prison ever since, where both groups say his health has seriously deteriorated.
Souab is “behind bars simply for his defense work and outspoken views,” HRW said in a statement, adding that his prosecution “shows the sheer extent of the Tunisian authorities’ crackdown on any dissent.”
According to HRW, anti-terrorism agents arrested Souab after he publicly criticized due-process violations in the so-called “conspiracy case,” during which 37 defendants, including lawyers, activists and opposition figures, were sentenced on terrorism and security charges after what the group calls a “sham trial”.
Amnesty International echoed HRW’s demand, saying Tunisian authorities must “overturn his conviction and immediately and unconditionally release him,” stressing that Souab was prosecuted “solely for his work as a lawyer and for exercising his right to freedom of expression”.
Souab’s arrest is emblematic of a broader pattern of repression that has intensified since President Kais Saied’s July 25, 2021 power consolidation, when he dismantled parliament and later dissolved the High Judicial Council.
Both HRW and Amnesty International had documented repeated attacks on the judiciary since 2022, warning that the president’s moves have severely undermined the rule of law and enabled authorities to weaponize the judicial system against critics and dissidents.
