Tunisia presidential hopeful gets jail sentence, life ban

A potential Tunisian presidential candidate on Friday received an eight-month prison sentence and lifetime ban from running for office, reports said, with NGOs warning of increasing obstacles for President Kais Saied's opponents.

Lotfi Mraihi, head of left-wing opposition Republican People's Union, was arrested on July 3 on suspicion of corruption.

In addition to the prison sentence, Mraihi, who announced his candidacy in early April, was given a lifetime ban from standing in any election, Tunisian media said.

Saied, who was democratically elected in 2019 but launched a sweeping power grab in 2021, has yet to announce whether he will seek a second term, though many believe he will.

A number of his opponents who announced their candidacy for the election expected in October are currently either in prison or being prosecuted.

Abir Moussi, a vocal critic of Saied and head of the Free Destourian Party, has been jailed since October last year.

Her party is often described as nostalgic for the autocratic era of independence hero Habib Bourguiba and his successor Zine El Abidine Ben Ali.

Issam Chebbi, a leader of the main opposition National Salvation Front who was arrested in February 2023 for "plotting against the state", dropped out of the race on Thursday, his party said.

Abdellatif Mekki, a former health minister and leader of Islamist-inspired Ennahdha movement who now heads the Amal w Injaz party, also said last month he was withdrawing his candidacy.

In a hearing over the 2014 killing of a political figure, a judge barred Mekki from leaving the country and making public declarations.

Amnesty International said this week that Tunisian authorities had "stepped up their crackdown on the political opposition".

Its statement came after the arrest of an Ennahdha leader, Ajmi Ouirimi, whose party was the biggest in parliament before Saied dissolved the legislature in July 2021.

"These arrests are particularly concerning ahead of the upcoming presidential elections," said Amnesty, calling for an end to the "authorities' disrespect for human rights and their crackdown against opponents".

On Sunday, Tunisian watchdog I Watch denounced "complicated procedures" and "a methodical absence of transparency" of the electoral process as the North African country readies for general elections.