A Tunisian court has sentenced Saadia Mosbah, one of the country’s most prominent migrant rights and anti-racism activists, to eight years in prison — a ruling her legal team called a major shock and critics described as part of a deliberate campaign to dismantle independent civil society.
Mosbah was convicted on charges of money laundering and illicit enrichment. She has been held since May 2024, detained alongside other activists caught up in a government crackdown on groups providing assistance to migrants. Her defence team said it intends to appeal the verdict.
Her lawyer, Hela Ben Salem, did not mince words about what the ruling represents. “The verdict is a major shock, and it is part of a broader effort to dismantle civil society groups and shift responsibility for the state’s failure to address the migrant issue onto these groups,” she told Reuters. Authorities did not immediately comment.
The case sits within a wider pattern. Tunisian authorities have moved against several prominent civil society organisations in recent years, including the Tunisian Forum for Economic and Social Rights and the Association of Democratic Women — both suspended following financial audits tied to foreign funding. Rights groups have warned that the cumulative effect of these moves is to steadily close off the space for independent advocacy and humanitarian work in the country.
The backdrop is Tunisia’s growing role as a transit point for migrants from across Africa seeking to reach Europe. Under pressure over rising migration flows, the government has tightened security measures, introduced stricter legal controls on migration networks, and deported thousands of migrants back to their home countries. Critics argue that prosecuting the activists who work with those migrants — rather than addressing the conditions driving migration — amounts to scapegoating civil society for a problem the state has failed to solve.
