Prominent Tunisian human rights defender Sihem Bensedrine says she has been sentenced in absentia to 25 years in prison, in a case that has alarmed rights groups and deepened concerns over the country’s authoritarian drift.

Bensedrine, a veteran journalist and former head of Tunisia’s Truth and Dignity Commission, is accused of falsifying parts of the commission’s final report, which documented decades of abuses under the regimes of Zine El Abidine Ben Ali and Habib Bourguiba. She has rejected the charges as politically motivated and denounced the ruling as an attempt to criminalise transitional justice.

The Truth and Dignity Commission, known by its French acronym IVD, was created after the 2011 revolution to investigate state crimes, provide reparations to victims and recommend institutional reforms. Over several years it collected testimony from thousands of Tunisians who described torture, enforced disappearances, arbitrary detention and systemic corruption.

Bensedrine argues that the commission’s work, and its extensive archive, have become a target for authorities seeking to rewrite the history of repression and undermine one of the key gains of the post-revolutionary period. She has said the sentence is part of a broader effort to “erase the legacy of the IVD” and intimidate those who documented abuses.

Since President Kais Saied’s power grab, Tunisian and international organisations have reported a sharp deterioration in civil liberties, with opposition figures, lawyers, journalists and activists facing prosecution under security and anti-disinformation laws. The case against Bensedrine is widely seen by observers as fitting into this pattern of pressure on dissenting voices.

Legal experts note that the charges over the commission’s report raise serious questions about judicial independence and the state’s commitment to transitional justice. The IVD’s final report, which implicated senior officials and recommended far-reaching reforms, had already faced resistance from political elites who criticised its scope and findings.

Supporters of Bensedrine say the ruling sends a chilling message to victims who testified before the commission and to anyone seeking accountability for past or present abuses. Human rights advocates are calling for the sentence to be dropped and for Tunisia to honour its obligations to protect those who work on truth, justice and reconciliation.