Sihem Bensedrine, a prominent Tunisian human rights activist and former president of the country's Truth and Dignity Commission (IVD) — a body established after the 2011 Arab Spring revolution to document abuses under former dictator Zine El Abidine Ben Ali — has been sentenced to 25 years in prison on charges that include falsifying the commission's final report. Bensedrine, 75, who was arrested in August 2024 and held in pre-trial detention for over six months, denounced the ruling as politically motivated, saying it was meant to "erase the legacy" of the IVD and settle scores with those who documented past state crimes. Human Rights Watch and the International Federation for Human Rights condemned the sentence, describing it as emblematic of a broader crackdown on civil liberties under President Kais Saied; Bensedrine has said she will appeal.