A Tunisian court has ordered the release of a group of humanitarian workers, including the former director of a French NGO, after handing them suspended sentences over charges linked to assisting migrants.
The defendants were freed after the court imposed two-year suspended sentences for facilitating the “illegal entry and residence” of migrants, ending more than 20 months of pre-trial detention for some of them.
The ruling followed a final hearing that lasted all day, with the court retiring late into the night before delivering its decision.
The judgment was delivered on Monday, with the releases confirmed in the early hours of Tuesday when videos emerged showing the freed NGO workers leaving prison.
The case was heard in Tunisia, involving NGO staff and municipal workers from the eastern city of Sousse who were accused of supporting migrant-related humanitarian activities.
Reacting to the ruling, a member of the defence team, Mahmoud Daoud Yaacoub, said the court had shown leniency toward those who had already spent long months in detention. “The court handed down a two-year suspended sentence to the defendants who were in pre-trial detention,” he said, adding that further details of the judgment concerning defendants on bail were expected later.
The defendants, numbering 23 in total, had faced up to 10 years in prison on charges including conspiracy to house or hide migrants who entered the country irregularly. Their lawyers maintained that the accused were simply carrying out humanitarian duties under a state-approved programme and in coordination with government authorities.
The case drew local and international attention, with the UN Special Rapporteur for human rights defenders, Mary Lawlor, urging Tunisian authorities to release the defendants and drop what she described as dubious charges linked to the defence of migrant rights.
The ruling comes amid heightened sensitivity around migration in Tunisia, a major transit route for migrants seeking to reach Europe, and against the backdrop of stricter migration policies and growing international pressure to curb irregular migration.
