Tunisia has freed prominent lawyer Sonia Dahmani, a vocal critic of President Kais Saied, after a year and a half in prison.

Dahmani, who is also a media commentator, is widely seen as a leading dissenting voice in Tunisia, and her arrest prompted local protests demanding her release and international criticism.

She was convicted over comments during a television appearance that questioned the government’s stance on undocumented African refugees and migrants in Tunisia. When asked whether they would try to stay and “conquer” Tunisia, Dahmani said: “What kind of extraordinary country are we talking about? The one that half of its youth want to leave?”

A court said the comments had insulted Tunisia and spread false information intended to harm it.

As Dahmani was released from a prison in Manouba near Tunis, dozens of her family members and activists chanted: “The police state’s era of repression is over.”

She told reporters, “I hope this is the end of the nightmare for me and all the other prisoners.”

Her lawyer Sami Ben Ghazi said the justice minister had issued a release order under a system that enables prisoners to apply for release after serving half their sentences.

The National Syndicate of Tunisian Journalists welcomed Dahmani’s release and called for the release of other detained journalists.

International and local rights groups said Dahmani’s imprisonment last year marked a deepening crackdown on dissent in the North African country.

During a sweeping power grab in July 2021, Saied suspended parliament and expanded executive power so he could rule by decree. Since then, the president has jailed many of his critics.

Many of the powers that Saied had taken for himself were later enshrined in a new constitution, ratified in a widely boycotted 2022 referendum, while media figures and lawyers critical of Saied have been prosecuted and detained under a harsh “fake news” law enacted that same year.

Saied says his actions are legal and aimed at ending years of chaos and rampant corruption.

Widespread crackdown

Amnesty International said this month that a crackdown on rights groups has reached critical levels with arbitrary arrests, detentions, asset freezes, banking restrictions and suspensions targeting 14 NGOs.

Human Rights Watch said more than 50 people, including politicians, lawyers, journalists and activists, have been subjected to arbitrary arrest or prosecution since late 2022 for exercising their rights to freedom of expression, peaceful assembly and political activity.

Early in Saied’s tenure, his government focused its crackdown on the Ennahdha Party.

Tunisian courts have handed several jail sentences to Ennahdha’s leader, former Parliament Speaker Rached Ghannouchi, in cases that his supporters said are politically motivated.

Even Saied’s former allies have not been spared in the crackdown.

Nadia Akacha, the Tunisian president’s former chief of staff, who was considered one of his closest and most influential aides, was sentenced to 35 years in prison in absentia in July.