Ayachi Zammel, one of two candidates challenging President Kais Saied in Tunisia’s upcoming October 6 election, was sentenced to 20 months in prison, according to AP.
A court in Jendouba convicted Zammel on Wednesday for falsifying signatures required to file his candidacy papers, a ruling his lawyer described as “politically motivated.”
Zammel, a businessman and head of the Azimoun party, is facing over 20 charges across Tunisia, with four additional cases scheduled for hearings on Thursday.
Despite his imprisonment, Tunisia’s election authority confirmed that Zammel remains eligible to run against President Saied and the only other approved candidate, Zouhair Maghzaoui.
Zammel’s attorney, Abdessattar Messaoudi, stated that the legal harassment began after Zammel declared his candidacy.
The incarcerated politician is not the only candidate to face legal challenges, as other presidential hopefuls, including Lotfi Mraihi, Nizar Chaari, and Karim Gharbi, have been convicted of fraud or vote-buying charges.
Additionally, prominent critics of Saied, such as Abir Moussi from the Free Destourian Party and Rached Ghannouchi from the Ennahda party, have been imprisoned since last year.
Civil liberty advocates have condemned the wave of arrests as an attack on human rights, calling it a pre-election assault on Tunisia’s fragile democracy.
The crackdown has fueled concerns about Tunisia’s democratic backslide under President Saied’s leadership ahead of the election.