Mokhtar Trifi is honorary president of the Tunisian Human Rights League (LTDH) after he was its president from 2000 under the Ben Ali regime until the Tunisian revolution in 2011.

A lawyer for the last 30 years, he is also a member of the Tunisian Order of Lawyers. Both organisations are in the quartet which has won the Nobel peace prize. He has also acted as lawyer for the Tunisian General Labour Union (UGTT) which is part of the quartet.

He said: “This is extraordinary news. It’s a clear encouragement for the wider process in Tunisia, and for all the work and dialogue that went into the move to elections and democracy. Crucially, it shows that the world is watching us. We have much more to accomplish and are facing new challenges. We have to save our country from terrorism and from economic crisis. We’re counting on good will from the West so that we aren’t isolated on those new challenges.”

He said the Tunisian Human Rights League was the biggest organisation for the defence of human rights in the Arab world and in Africa, and had been firmly rooted civil society with grassroots organisations all over the country.

He said:“For decades we had been working to show that democracy was necessary. After the revolution people said we’d shrink because everyone now would respect human rights. But we’ve grown and we’re still working and playing a major role.”

Trifi said that working for the Tunisian Human Rights League under the authoritarian Ben Ali regime was extremely difficult. Because the league was internationally recognised and had legal status, it was able to exist as an organisation but the regime and its police state apparatus cracked down on it.

“We held out,” said Trifi, detailing how the regime brought scores of court cases against the human rights league and police harassed, threatened and beat members in the street, others were arrested and tortured. “We were under surveillance. Our post was intercepted. For a long period, we simply received no post at all.”