{"id":29334,"date":"2026-03-20T08:17:59","date_gmt":"2026-03-20T06:17:59","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/?post_type=news&#038;p=29334"},"modified":"2026-03-20T08:17:59","modified_gmt":"2026-03-20T06:17:59","slug":"tunisia-jails-prominent-migrant-rights-activist-saadia-mosbah-to-eight-years","status":"publish","type":"news","link":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/news\/tunisia-jails-prominent-migrant-rights-activist-saadia-mosbah-to-eight-years\/","title":{"rendered":"Tunisia jails prominent migrant rights activist Saadia Mosbah to eight years"},"content":{"rendered":"<div>A Tunisian court on Thursday sentenced Saadia Mosbah, a prominent migrant rights and anti-racist Activist, to \u200beight years in prison, in a ruling that highlights \u200cwhat critics described as an escalating crackdown on civil society and independent voices.<\/div>\n<div>\n&#8220;The verdict is a major shock, and it is part of \u200ba broader effort to dismantle civil society groups and \u200bshift responsibility for the state\u2019s failure to address the \u2060migrant issue onto these groups,&#8221; Mosbah\u2019s lawyer, Hela Ben Salem, \u200btold\u00a0<i>Reuters<\/i>.<\/div>\n<div><\/div>\n<div>Authorities last year ordered the suspension of the activities against \u200bprominent civil society groups such as the Tunisian Forum for Economic and Social Rights and the Association of Democratic Women, both known for defending civil \u200bliberties, citing financial audits related to foreign funding.<\/div>\n<div>\nMosbah faced charges \u200bof money laundering and illicit enrichment. Her defense team said it plans \u200cto \u2060appeal the ruling. Authorities did not immediately comment.<\/div>\n<div><\/div>\n<div>Mosbah has been detained since May 2024, alongside several other activists detained in a government crackdown on groups aiding migrants.<\/div>\n<div><\/div>\n<div>The case comes as Tunisia \u200bfaces pressure over \u200bincreased migration flows \u2060from across Africa in recent years, with the country becoming a key transit point for \u200bmigrants seeking to reach Europe in recent years.<\/div>\n<div><\/div>\n<div>In \u200bresponse, authorities \u2060have tightened security measures and introduced stricter legal controls aimed at combating irregular migration networks. Thousands of migrants from African countries \u2060were deported \u200bto their home countries.<\/div>\n<div><\/div>\n<div>Rights groups warned \u200bthat these measures risk further restricting humanitarian efforts and curtailing the space for \u200bindependent advocacy in Tunisia.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div>&#8211;Reuters&#8211;<\/div>\n","protected":false},"featured_media":23239,"template":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"news-type":[78,26],"class_list":["post-29334","news","type-news","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","news-type-featured","news-type-general_news","entry"],"acf":{"short_description":"Mosbah faced charges \u200bof money laundering and illicit enrichment.","published_date":"","news_description":"Mosbah faced charges \u200bof money laundering and illicit enrichment.","form_embed":"","author":"","image_caption":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/news\/29334","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/news"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/news"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/news\/29334\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":29335,"href":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/news\/29334\/revisions\/29335"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/23239"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=29334"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"news-type","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/news-type?post=29334"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}