Early activism and commitment to social justice
Ayachi Hammami became politically active in the late 1970s through union activism while
working as a school teacher.
His early engagement in social and political struggles led to his dismissal from the
education system, marking the beginning of a life shaped by political reprisals.
Rather than retreating, he chose to pursue law as a means to defend the oppressed and
confront injustice through legal struggle.
He became a lawyer in the mid-1990s and quickly established himself as an independent
figure, unaffiliated with any political party.
A lawyer under dictatorship
Throughout the Ben Ali dictatorship, Ayachi Hammami dedicated his legal practice almost
entirely to defending victims of human rights violations, political prisoners, trade
unionists, journalists, and activists. He played an active role within the Tunisian Bar
Association and was deeply involved in human rights organizations at both national and
regional levels. He served as Secretary General of a regional section of the Tunisian League
for the Defence of Human Rights (LTDH), later becoming a member of its executive committee,
as well as the executive committee of Euromed Rights.
His commitment came at a heavy personal cost. Hammami was subjected to constant
surveillance, intimidation, and harassment. His home and law office were closely monitored,
and in 2007 his office was deliberately set on fire. Many of his clients were pressured by
the police to abandon him, forcing him to carry out most of his human rights work without
remuneration and at the expense of his professional livelihood.
Key moments of resistance
In April 2005, following the arrest of lawyer and political dissident Mohamed Abbou, Ayachi
Hammami initiated a sit-in by lawyers at the headquarters of the Tunisian Bar Association.
The protest lasted nearly two months and became one of the most visible acts of professional
resistance under the dictatorship.
Later that same year, as Tunisia prepared to host the World Summit on the Information
Society, Hammami opened his law office to seven activists who undertook a month-long hunger
strike. This action attracted national and international attention and led to the creation
of the October 18 Coalition for Rights and Freedoms, an unprecedented alliance
uniting diverse political currents around shared demands: the release of political
prisoners, freedom of expression, freedom of association and assembly, and press freedom.
This coalition played a historic role in challenging the regime and foreshadowed alliances
that would emerge after the 2011 revolution.
In 2008, during the Gafsa mining basin uprising, Hammami was again on the front line,
defending arrested trade unionists and activists in a context of severe repression.
After the 2011 revolution: reform and vigilance
Following the Tunisian revolution of 2011, Ayachi Hammami took part in the transitional
process while remaining independent from political power. He was appointed a member of the
Higher Authority for the Realisation of the Objectives of the Revolution, Political Reform,
and Democratic Transition. In this capacity, he contributed to drafting Decree 88 on
associations, a cornerstone of post-revolutionary Tunisia that enabled the flourishing of
civil society.
Hammami consistently advocated for accountability for crimes committed under previous
regimes and defended the transitional justice process against political attempts to
undermine victims’ rights to truth, justice, and reparations. In 2019, he was nominated by
four parliamentary groups for membership in the Constitutional Court, which was never
established.
In 2020, he briefly served as Minister of Human Rights. During his tenure, he worked to
advance transitional justice, including supporting the publication of the Truth and Dignity
Commission’s final report in the Official Journal of the Tunisian Republic.
Resistance to authoritarian rollback after 2021
After President Kais Saied’s seizure of power on 25 July 2021, Ayachi Hammami emerged as one
of the most prominent legal voices opposing the dismantling of democratic institutions. He
publicly denounced the concentration of powers in the hands of the executive, warned against
the erosion of the rule of law, and consistently defended judicial independence.
In June 2022, following a presidential decree allowing the dismissal of judges without due
process, Hammami coordinated and acted as spokesperson for the defence committee of 57
arbitrarily dismissed judges and prosecutors. The committee sought legal remedies, denounced
violations of judicial independence, and exposed the instrumentalization of the
judiciary.
In the same context of repression, Hammami founded the National Committee for the Defence
of Freedoms and Democracy (NCDFD) in 2022. The organization documents human rights
violations, defends victims of political persecution, supports judges, and advocates for the
restoration of democratic governance and separation of powers.
Criminalization of legal defense and the “conspiracy case”
In January 2023, Ayachi Hammami was charged under Decree-Law 54 following statements made
during a radio interview in his capacity as a defense lawyer. The investigation, initiated
by the Ministry of Justice, remained open for months.
In May 2023, he was added as a suspect in the high-profile “conspiracy against the state”
case, in which he had initially served as a defense lawyer for detained opposition figures.
He was later charged with “joining a terrorist organization” and “failing to report
terrorist activity,” accusations widely regarded as politically motivated and unsupported by
material evidence.
Throughout the proceedings, Hammami denounced the case as a political trial and refused to
legitimize what he described as a judicial charade. He was placed under a travel ban and
restrictions on appearing in public spaces. The trial was marked by grave violations of fair
trial rights, including the use of remote hearings for detained defendants and the absence
of defense pleadings.
On 19 April 2025, Ayachi Hammami was convicted and sentenced to prison. The verdict was
upheld on appeal in November 2025, despite widespread condemnation by Tunisian and
international human rights organizations, UN experts, and the UN High Commissioner for Human
Rights, who described the proceedings as a sham.
Arrest and imprisonment
On 2 December 2025, security forces arrested Ayachi Hammami at his home to enforce the
sentence, after days of intense surveillance. His detention marks a turning point in
Tunisia’s repression of lawyers and human rights defenders, symbolizing the criminalization
of legal defense and peaceful dissent.