Tunisian rapper, potential presidential candidate sentenced to prison

Kais Saied’s Tunisia is continuing to use the judiciary and bogus charges to prevent his political opponents from entering the presidential electoral race. The latest challenger to be eliminated is Tunisian rapper and businessman Karim Gharbi, aka K2Rhym. He was sentenced on Wednesday August 14 to a four-year imprisonment in absentia for buying sponsorships to stand as a candidate in the October 6 presidential election, a judicial spokesman said.

“The Jendouba court sentenced rapper Karim Gharbi to four years’ imprisonment and fined him 5,000 dinars (around 1,500 euros),” said spokesman Alaedine Aouadi, adding that Gharbi has been stripped of his voting rights and will be ineligible for life.

The court also sentenced the president of the commune of Jendouba to one year’s imprisonment and a fine of 1,000 dinars (around 300 euros), and one of the rapper’s collaborators to four years’ imprisonment and a fine of 5,000 dinars. On August 2, the same court had sentenced four women working for K2Rhym to between two and four years in prison, for “providing money or gifts in kind” in exchange for voter signatures.

The rapper, who lives abroad, had announced his intention to run for president at the end of July. Former son-in-law of dictator Zine El Abidine Ben Ali, overthrown by the Tunisian Revolution of 2011, he made his announcement in a video. Initially criticized for his tattoos and glitzy lifestyle, in recent years he had made a name for himself through his charity work on behalf of orphans, underprivileged families, hospitals, and schools.

On August 5, on the eve of the application deadline, the rapper claimed that the authorities had refused to provide him with his criminal record extract (B3) without explanation, preventing him from applying.

The Tunisian electoral commission has only accepted bids by three candidates, including incumbent president Kais Saied, Ayachi Zammel and Zouhair Magzhaoui, who are both believed to be allies of Kais Saied, playing the role of pacemakers in an election in which Saied is poised to be re-elected.

While the contenders are not influential figures in Tunisia’s political scene, prominent politicians, such as Mondher Znaidi, Imed Daimi, Abdel Latif Mekki, Karim Gharbi, Safi Said, Kamel Akrout, and Nizar Chaari, said authorities declined to provide them with documents required to submit their application to the electoral committee.

Earlier this month, four potential candidates were indicted on the charge of vote buying- which they denied. They are Abdel Latif Mekki, activist Nizar Chaari, Judge Mourad Massoudi, and another candidate, Adel Dou.

Potential candidate, Abir Moussi, also a prominent opponent of Saied, has been sentenced the same day to two years in prison, on a charge of insulting the election commission.

Last month, a court in Tunis handed an eight-month prison sentence to leader of the Republican Union Party Lotfi Mraihi, an outspoken critic of Kais Saied.

Tunisia’s rights watchdog “I Watch” denounced “complicated procedures” and “a methodical absence of transparency” for elections in the North African country.