Trial opens for anti-racism activist in Tunisia

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TUNIS - The trial for Tunisian anti-racism activist Saadia Mosbah, in prison for over a year and a half, opened on Monday on charges of money laundering and illicit enrichment.

Mosbah, the head of the Mnemty anti-racism association, was arrested in May 2024 and investigated over money laundering, media reported at the time.

Mnemty on Sunday said in a statement that it was operating legally, rejecting "any accusations... of funding from suspicious sources".

It said the investigation opened last year came against the backdrop of a social media campaign against activists that aimed "to falsely associate human rights work with conspiracy theories and accusations of 'demographic replacement'".

Mosbah, 65, had been an outspoken defender of the rights of sub-Saharan migrants in Tunisia, particularly after a 2023 speech by President Kais Saied in which he denounced "hordes of illegal migrants" as a demographic threat.

She was a key advocate for a law prohibiting racial discrimination that was adopted in 2018.

On Monday, her lawyer, Monia El Abed, said Mosbah "suffers from chronic illnesses and poses no threat to anyone.

"We demand her release on bail and guarantee her presence at upcoming hearings," she said.

Chawki Tabib, another member of her defence team, meanwhile, noted that Mosbah had surpassed the maximum period of 14 months in pretrial detention.

"Who will correct this injustice?" he said.

Mosbah has been charged with illicit enrichment, which is punishable by up to six years in prison, and money laundering, which comes with a sentence of up to 10 years in prison, Abed told AFP.

Nine people are being tried in the case, eight of them members of Mnemty, including Mosbah's son Fares Gueblaoui, as well as the owner of the NGO's premises.

At the end of the hearing in Tunis, Gueblaoui asked for permission to embrace his mother, before collapsing into her arms, causing a stir in the courtroom.

A number of other rights workers are on trial in Tunisia for providing aid to irregular migrants.

Since President Saied staged a power grab in 2021, opposition figures and rights groups have decried the erosion of rights and liberties in the North African country.