Tunisia: Former presidential hopeful put in pre-trial remand
The crackdown on the opposition of the Tunisian president appears to be unrelenting to some observers as the judiciary takes aim at yet another critic.
After dropping out of the upcoming presidential election, Safi Said, a former parliamentarian and journalist, has been placed in pre-trial detention for allegedly crossing the border with Algeria illegally, according to a court statement to local media on August 22nd, reported AFP and agencies.
The 70-year-old Said, a vocal opponent of Tunisian President Kais Saied, was sentenced to four months in jail in June for faking ballot signatures in the 2014 presidential elections.
On August 20th, a spokesman of a court in Kasserine, located in western Tunisia, stated that “political activist Safi Said and a companion of his” had been ordered to be placed in detention “for illegally crossing the border of a neighbouring country.”
Said’s justification for dropping out of the presidential vote set for October 6th was due to intimidatory tactics from the Saied government, who were holding elections he called a “bad farce”.
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Numerous political and public figures who have been critical of Saied have faced prosecution and jail time.
Human Rights Watch announced on August 20th that Tunisian authorities “have prosecuted, convicted or imprisoned at least eight prospective candidates” for the elections.
The nation was “gearing up for a presidential election amid increased repression of dissent and free speech, without crucial checks and balances on President Saied’s power”, stated the independent organisation.
Issam Chebbi, leader of the centrist Al Joumhouri party, and Ghazi Chaouchi, head of the social-democratic party Democratic Current, are among the potential candidates currently in jail for “plotting against the state.”
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Incumbent President Saied is set to face only two other candidates after the High Independent Authority for Elections (ISIE) stated it had rejected 14 presidential hopefuls because they could not secure enough endorsements.
The alternative candidates include former parliamentarian Zouhair Maghzaoui, who is seen as close to Saied, and Ayachi Zammel, who is not widely regarded as a prominent politician who heads a small liberal party.
The runup to the presidential elections has been embroiled in protests and condemnation against President Saied, who is regarded by some to return the country to an age of false democracy and authoritarianism akin to the state of Tunisia before the Arab Spring of 2011.
AFP and agencies
