Tunisia: Ayachi Zammel enters electoral campaign trail in detention

The campaign for Tunisia’s presidential election kicked off on Saturday, September 14, with the three candidates engaging in various activities like field visits, manifestos, and press conferences. However, the atmosphere is tense, as one of the contenders, Ayachi Zammel, has been imprisoned for allegedly falsifying sponsorships.

Zammel, an industrialist with liberal leanings, is notably absent from his own campaign launch. His detention has prevented him from presenting his platform directly to the public. Anticipating this, his team prepared a series of pre-recorded videos featuring Zammel, with the first released on Saturday evening. On Monday, September 16, his supporters gathered in downtown Tunis, condemning what they described as judicial tactics aimed at silencing their candidate.

“We hope that the prisoner Ayachi Zammel will be released as soon as possible. Candidate Ayachi Zammel wants peaceful elections. Tunisians have no other choice than the peaceful way and elections”, said Ramzi Jebabli, Ayachi Zammel’s campaign manager.