Tunisia candidate Zammel detained hours after release

Tunisian presidential candidate Ayachi Zammel was placed in custody shortly after being released from pretrial detention on suspicion of forging ballot signatures, his lawyer said on Friday.

Zammel, 43, is one of only two candidates approved by the electoral authority, ISIE, to challenge President Kais Saied in the October 6 poll.

A court in Manouba, west of Tunis, ordered his temporary release late Thursday after he spent four days in detention, his lawyer Abdessatar Messaoudi told AFP.

But shortly afterwards, Zammel was arrested again and placed in custody in Jendouba, about 150 kilometres (90 miles) away, over the same suspicions "related to ballot signatures, Messaoudi added.

He is due to appear before a judge in Jendouba on Wednesday, the lawyer said.

Messaoudi said 25 active cases involving signature collectors for Zammel's campaign were ongoing, though it was unclear if Zammel would be investigated in all of them.

A little-known businessman and former parliamentarian, Zammel headed Azimoun, a small liberal party, until late August when he resigned to run as an independent.

His arrest on Monday came hours before ISIE released a final list of presidential candidates, which included Zammel, Saied and former parliamentarian Zouhair Maghzaoui.

The list excluded three other hopefuls, despite court rulings granting them appeals after their initial rejection by ISIE.

These were Imed Daimi, an adviser to former president Moncef Marzouki, former minister Mondher Zenaidi and opposition party leader Abdellatif Mekki.

Experts say they had a chance of winning against Saied.

Saied, the frontrunner, came to power in 2019 but staged a sweeping power grab in 2021 and has ruled by decree since then.

On Thursday, the European Union said Zammel's arrest and the exclusion of the three candidates demonstrated "a continued limitation of the democratic space" in Tunisia, which sparked the 2011 Arab Spring uprisings.

"The rule of law and respect for the separation of powers are at the heart of democratic values, as are electoral rights and the right to a fair trial," the EU said.

Human Rights Watch says at least eight prospective candidates have been "prosecuted, convicted or imprisoned" ahead of the election.

The group said ISIE "has intervened to skew the ballot in favour of Saied", adding: "Holding elections amid such repression makes a mockery of Tunisians' right to participate in free and fair elections."