Tunisia military court upholds one-year jail term for MP critical of Kais Saied

A Tunisian military court upheld a one-year prison sentence on Friday against a prominent critic of President Kais Saied convicted of "attacking the dignity of the army", his lawyer told AFP.

The Tunis Military Court of Appeal also banned Seifeddine Makhlouf, head of Islamist nationalist party Al-Karama, from working as a lawyer for five years, lawyer Anouar Ouled Ali said.

Makhlouf had been arrested in September over a dispute with military judges and handed a year-long suspended prison sentence in February, after losing his parliamentary immunity following a power grab by Saied last year.

On Friday, a judge ordered him to serve the jail time, but his lawyer said he would appeal.

"We were surprised by this conviction, especially as we had sought a postponement of the hearing for new documents to be examined," lawyer Ouled Ali said.

"It is clear that this trial is purely political".

Makhlouf, who remains at large, is also appealing a five-month prison sentence after being found guilty of insulting police during a standoff at Tunis airport in March 2021.

Rights groups say military trials of civilians have become increasingly common in Tunisia since Saied sacked the government last July and suspended parliament.

His opponents have warned of a return to autocracy a decade after the country's revolution.