Sihem Bensedrine

Sihem Bensedrine (Arabic: سهام بن سدرين‎‎) (born October 28, 1950) is a Tunisian journalist and human rights activist.

She was born in La Marsa, near Tunis and went to France to study at the university in Toulouse, where she earned a degree in philosophy.

In 1980, she became a reporter for the independent journal Le Phare. When the journal stopped publication, she became a political chief at Maghreb, and then at Réalités. When Maghreb ceased publication because of the food riots in 1983, she became the editor-in-chief of Gazette Touristique and founded l'Hebdo Touristique. At the same time, she was overseeing the opposition newspaper El Mawkif.

She founded the publishing house Arcs in 1988, but it became bankrupt in 1992 because of the human rights crisis. In 1998, she became literary chief for the publishing house Noir sur Blanc.

In 1998, she founded the Conseil National pour les Libertés en Tunisie (CNLT), of which she became the primary spokesperson.

From 1999, she and her businesses were subject to numerous police and judicial actions, including confiscation and destruction of property and a personal libel campaign in which she was portrayed as a prostitute, because of her freedom of the press and human rights activities.

In 2000, she co-founded the online journal Kalima with Naziha Réjiba. In 2001, Réjiba and Bensedrine founded the group Observatoire de la Liberté de la Presse, de L'Edition et de la Création (OLPEC), which promotes freedom of the press.

on 17 June 2001, Bensedrine appeared on the "Le Grand Maghreb", Al Mustaquilla television station, based in London. She was openly critical of corruption in Tunisia and its government. On 26 June 2001, she was arrested at the airport in Tunis Carthage following a television interview in which she denounced human rights abuses, including systematic use of torture and widespread judicial corruption. She was accused of spreading "false news with an aim towards disturbing public order", "defamation" and "undermining the judicial institution". There was much confusion as to whether she had been arrested or not as the standard Tunisian legal procedures had not been followed. It was later confirmed by members of Lawyers Without Borders that she had been arrested and proper legal procedures were then maintained.

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