A Tunisian court sentenced presidential candidate Ayachi Zammel to 12 years in prison on Tuesday, just five days before the October 6 presidential election, Reuters reported.
Zammel, head of the opposition Azimoun party, was convicted of document falsification, specifically for falsifying voter signatures on his candidacy paperwork.
His lawyer, Abdessattar Massoudi, described the verdict as “unfair and a farce,” accusing President Kais Saied’s government of fabricating the charges to sideline Zammel.
This is the third prison sentence imposed on Zammel in the last two weeks. Despite his imprisonment, Zammel remains one of two candidates allowed to stand against Saied in the upcoming election.
Three other prominent opposition figures were barred from running last month, fueling widespread protests and anger among opposition groups and civil society.
Political tensions have risen sharply in Tunisia as the electoral commission, appointed by Saied, rejected a court ruling that would have reinstated the disqualified candidates.
Zammel has been jailed since last month but continues to campaign while behind bars. He claims that the charges are part of a broader crackdown on opposition ahead of the election.
Tunisia, which emerged from the 2011 Arab Spring protests as the region’s only peaceful democracy, has seen its political landscape change dramatically under Saied’s leadership since 2019.
Saied dissolved the elected parliament in 2021 and began ruling by decree, which opposition figures have described as a coup.
His critics accuse him of using the judiciary to target political rivals, eroding Tunisia’s democratic institutions and undermining the rule of law.
The electoral commission’s decision to bar three opposition candidates has drawn protests from both political and civil society groups.
Prominent opposition figures, including Abir Moussi from the Free Destourian Party and Rached Ghannouchi from the Ennahda party, have also been imprisoned in the past year.
Civil liberty advocates have expressed concerns about Tunisia’s democratic backslide under Saied’s rule, accusing his government of orchestrating a wave of politically motivated arrests ahead of the election.
The upcoming election has become a flashpoint for political unrest, with opposition groups planning mass protests on Friday against what they describe as Saied’s authoritarian grip on power.
Despite the escalating crackdown, Zammel remains determined to challenge Saied in the election. His lawyer, Massoudi, claims that legal harassment against Zammel began the moment he declared his candidacy.
The situation has raised serious concerns about the future of Tunisia’s democracy, as the country grapples with increasing political repression and social unrest.