Event Summary
On 6 January 2026, Chérifa Riahi, former director of the NGO Terre d’asile Tunisie, along with several of her colleagues and others involved in the same case (Mohamed Jaouou, Iyadh Boussalmi, Iman Wardani and Mohamed Iqbal Khaled) were released from prison after approximately 20 months of pre-trial detention, following a court decision that converted their sentences to fines. Iman Wardani and Mohamed Iqbal Khaled were released from prison after approximately 20 months of pre-trial detention, following a court decision that converted their sentences to suspended sentences. Their detention dated back to arrests in May 2024 in connection with proceedings related to their humanitarian work with migrants.
Additionally, on 14 January 2026, Tunisian journalist Chadha Hadj Mbarek, who had been sentenced to five years in prison in February 2025 in the Instalingo case, was released after an appeal court reduced her sentence to two years, making her immediately eligible for release. She had been detained since July 2023.
Yes. The release of humanitarian workers is part of a recurring pattern observed in Tunisia in recent years: humanitarian or civil society actors are arrested, held in pre-trial detention for many months, and then released, often after national and international mobilisation and pressure. Similar events have already occurred, notably with other humanitarian workers detained in 2024–2025, as well as with public figures released before them, suggesting a repeated pattern of detention followed by gradual releases.