Tunisian activist Sihem Bensedrine, who headed a panel tasked with uncovering abuses under the country's past autocratic rulers, has been arrested for "falsifying" the commission's report, Tunisian media reported Thursday.
Bensedrine, a prominent rights activist who headed the now-defunct Truth and Dignity Commission (IVD), was arrested for allegedly forging parts of the commission's final report published in 2020.
She has been accused of accepting a bribe to include a passage accusing the Franco-Tunisian Bank (BFT) of corruption, allegations she refuted.
Last year, a court banned Bensedrine from leaving Tunisia as prosecutors investigated the alleged falsifications.
Founded in 2014 following the pro-democracy revolution in 2011 which toppled dictator Zine El Abidine Ben Ali, the IVD received testimonies from tens of thousands of Tunisian victims of abuses including rape and torture.
Since a sweeping power grab orchestrated in 2021 by Tunisia's current President Kais Saied, who was democratically elected in 2019, numerous political figures critical of him have been arrested.
Rights group in and outside Tunisia have denounced an "authoritarian drift" and a "rollback" on freedoms as the North African country readies for presidential elections set to take place on October 6.