The Tunis Court of First Instance sentenced lawyer and columnist Sonia Dahmani Saturday to one year in prison following public comments she made about the country refusing sub-Saharan African migrants coming from Europe, local media reported.

The comments were made on the television channel Carthage+, when she sarcastically asked, “What extraordinary country are we talking about?” during a discussion about President Kais Saied’s statement that Tunisia would not accept sub-Saharan immigrants coming from Europe. This sarcastic comment was deemed the spread of misinformation, leading to the one-year sentence for Dahmani. She is also facing four other trials for similar alleged crimes. 

Dahmani was charged in accordance with Decree No. 54. She has been specifically charged against Article 24, which aims to punish individuals who spread false news, particularly through telecommunication mediums.  The decree states that it is criminal to ‘“slander others, tarnish their reputation, financially or morally harm them, incite attacks against [them] or incite hate speech,” “violate [their] rights,” “harm public security or national defense, or spread terror.”’ The stated intent was to target cyber crimes, though critics say the decree was used for political purposes.

Tunisian lawyers previously went on strike after Dahmani was arrested in May. Her arrest came on the heels of the arrest of Saadia Mosbah, a renowned Tunisian dissident, who is known for her advocacy for African migrants. She was arrested on charges of money laundering. These arrests come amid an increasing crackdown by the Tunisian government on dissidents and critics using Decree 54.

The use of Decree 54 has gained global scrutiny, with many saying it prevents journalistic freedom of speech and sequesters individual thought that is against that of the Tunisian government. Human Rights Watch said, “the authorities should repeal this repressive decree, release those held under it, and drop all prosecutions for peaceful expression.”