Sherifa Riahi, the former director of the French NGO Terre d'Asile, poses at her parents' home in La Marsa near Tunis on Jan. 6, 2026. (Credit: Fethi Belaid/AFP)
Smiling with relief, 43-year-old Sherifa Riahi hugged family members and several civil society activists who came to greet her in the early hours of Tuesday, Jan. 6, as she walked out of prison.The former head of the French NGO France Terre d’Asile in Tunisia had been arrested on May 7, 2024, along with two colleagues, just after returning from maternity leave.Twenty months later, after a one-day trial held on Jan. 5, the court delivered its verdict for her, her two colleagues and two employees of the municipality of Sousse. All five received two-year suspended sentences on charges of facilitating the illegal entry of migrants and assigning them to accommodation. Eighteen other defendants were acquitted.For many human rights organizations, the ruling feels like a mixed verdict.For her family, the ruling first brought relief, since she...
Smiling with relief, 43-year-old Sherifa Riahi hugged family members and several civil society activists who came to greet her in the early hours of Tuesday, Jan. 6, as she walked out of prison.The former head of the French NGO France Terre d’Asile in Tunisia had been arrested on May 7, 2024, along with two colleagues, just after returning from maternity leave.Twenty months later, after a one-day trial held on Jan. 5, the court delivered its verdict for her, her two colleagues and two employees of the municipality of Sousse. All five received two-year suspended sentences on charges of facilitating the illegal entry of migrants and assigning them to accommodation. Eighteen other defendants were acquitted.For many human rights organizations, the ruling feels like a mixed verdict.For her family, the ruling first brought relief, since...
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