The former MP and candidate in the October 6 election was arrested on suspicion of “falsifying endorsements.” According to Human Rights Watch, at least eight candidates for the highest office have been prosecuted, convicted, or imprisoned since mid-July.
Repression is getting tougher as the October 6 presidential election approaches. Nearly a month before the vote, candidate Ayachi Zammel, an industrialist and leader of the small liberal Azimoun party, was arrested on Monday, September 2, on suspicion of “falsification of sponsorships”, a member of his campaign team announced on Mosaïque FM radio. The former MP was taken to a National Guard (the equivalent of the gendarmerie) post in Tebourba, about 40 kilometers west of Tunis, Mahdi Abdeljaouad said on the radio.
Azimoun’s treasurer, Siwar Bargaoui, had already been arrested on August 19 for falsifying sponsorships on behalf of Ayachi Zammel. She was released on August 29 pending a trial set for September 19, according to the online site Business News.
Authoritarian drift
Ayachi Zammel is one of three candidates selected on August 10 by the Tunisian electoral authority for the presidential election, alongside President Kaïs Saïed, who is seeking a second term, and Zouhair Maghzaoui, a former member of parliament from the pan-Arab left. The outgoing president, democratically elected in 2019, has been accused by his detractors and the opposition of authoritarianism since his coup on July 25, 2021, during which he granted himself full powers.
To everyone’s surprise, the administrative court accepted the appeals of three candidates whose applications had been rejected on August 10 by the electoral authority. But the latter must still confirm and communicate the final list at the beginning of the week. On August 10, it had disqualified thirteen other candidates, arguing that there were insufficient sponsorships, a lack of financial guarantees or nationality criteria that were not respected.
On August 20, the NGO Human Rights Watch criticized the candidate selection process, saying that:“at least eight potential candidates [avaient] been prosecuted, convicted or imprisoned” et, de facto, “prevented from running.” Other candidates for the post complained of administrative obstacles in obtaining various documents (sponsorship forms, criminal records, etc.).
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