Tunisian politician’s jail sentence extended to 35 years

Ayachi Zammel, former Tunisian presidential candidate was sentenced on November 11th to two years and eight months in prison, raising his jail time to 35 years, according to the Arab News via AFP.

Zammel was one of two candidates allowed to stand against Kais Saied last month but was arrested in September, on the same day his candidacy was approved by electoral authorities.

READ: UN says South Sudan floods affect 1.4m, displace 379,00

Saied won the election with more than 90% of the vote, although turnout was less than 30% according to Farouk Bouasker, the head of Tunisia’s Independent High Authority for Elections (ISIE). 47-year old Zammel, former lawyer, business and leader of a small liberal party, received around 7% of the vote

His sentence was “increased by two years and eight months” by a court in Marouba, near Tunis, after a conviction for falsifying endorsements to stand in the election, according to his lawyer Abdessatar Messaoudi.

Zammel has now been handed down sentences adding up to 35 years, Messaoudi added, saying that his former candidate was being prosecuted in 37 separate cases. Every alleged falsified endorsement is grounds for a new case to be opened, he added.

READ: France recognizes it killed Algerian independence figure in 1957

Saied was democratically elected in 2019 but staged a huge power grab two years after, dissolving parliament and revising the constitution.

AFP, Anadolu Agency