Tunisia sentences presidential candidate Zammel to 6 months in prison

Few days ahead of Tunisian one-man show presidential election, candidate Ayachi Zammel received a 6-month prison sentence as Tunisia’s strongman and incumbent president Kais Saied continues to use the judiciary against political opponents.

This is the second sentence against Zammel, who was handed a 20-month jail term for falsifying popular endorsement, in a verdict described by rights activists as politically-motivated.

The opposition fears the President was emptying the political scene of credible opponents to pave the way for his re-election after years of power grab that undermined checks and balances in what used to be once an Arab Spring success story.

Zammel’s prison term leaves Saied in a one-man show election running against little known Zouhair Magzhaoui.

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.

In August, 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.

In July, 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.