Lina Ben Mhanni (May 22, 1983 – January 27, 2020) was a human rights activist, journalist, and English professor at the university. She was known for her opposition to the censorship of websites on the internet under the regime of Zine El Abidine Ben Ali. She wrote on her blog, “Tunisian Girl,” which was censored multiple times before the Tunisian revolution, and on the site Global Voices. She contributed to online media coverage of the Tunisian revolution by going to the city of Regueb to cover the events that triggered the revolution in Sidi Bouzid, publishing photos of protesters killed and injured by police bullets.
Lina Ben Mhenni is the daughter of Sadek Ben Mhenni, one of Tunisia’s left-wing leaders who opposed Habib Bourguiba in the 1970s. He and his comrades were imprisoned from the left-wing group “Perspectives,” and he is one of the founders of the Tunisian branch of Amnesty International. Her mother is a professor in the secondary Arabic language institutes.
Lina was an activist in the fields of human rights and the fight against internet censorship. She wrote on her blog about the events in the mining basin in 2008, then participated in the “Sayeb Saleh” and “Nahar Ala Ammar” activities, which were organized by Tunisian bloggers to protest the censorship of many websites in Tunisia such as YouTube and news sites, as well as the “National Day for the Freedom of Blogging” which took place on November 4, 2010. She also participated in campaigns to demand the release of students imprisoned for their political activities. She was also present at most of the demonstrations organized in the capital, including the demonstrations of lawyers, and at the Kasbah 1 and 2 sit-ins. Lina Ben Mhenni mainly published on her blog, Bnaya Tounsia, which she launched in 2007. She wrote in Arabic, French, and English, and received a large number of readers, as well as on the site Global Voices, where she has been blogging since October 2008. Ben Mhenni was also active in the field of sport for organ recipients, and she won several medals, including the silver medal in walking at the World Championship of organ recipients in Thailand in 2007, the silver medal in walking at the Maghreb and Middle East Championships in Libya in 2008, the gold medal in marathon at the Maghreb and Middle East Championships in Libya the same year, and the silver medal in walking at the World Championship of organ recipients in Australia in 2009 and the gold medal in walking at the Maghreb and Middle East Championships in Tunisia in 2010.
Lina was present at key moments of resistance against all forms of oppression.
LINA TESTIFIES
Thanks to her commitment, but also her exceptional writing style and sense of analysis, Lina’s works were sharp testimonies on underdocumented aspects of the political and social sphere in Tunisia for about fifteen years.