A presidential candidate in Tunisia’s forthcoming election, Ayachi Zammel, has been handed a twelve (12) years imprisonment.
Tunisia, a country on the North side of Africa, is scheduled to hold its presidential election on October 6, 2024.
However, just a few days before the civic exercise, reports emerged that Zammel had been jailed.
“The court in Tunis sentenced Ayachi Zammel to 12 years in prison in four cases related to voter endorsements,” a lawyer to the politician, Abdessater Messoudi, reportedly told AFP.
However, despite the new development, Messoudi mentioned that Zammel is still a contender in the upcoming election.
The leading figure is the current President, Kais Saied, who won the presidency in 2019 but then proceeded to amass significant power by dissolving the parliament and establishing a new body with restricted authority.
Zammel, who previously served in the legislature and leads a minor liberal party, was among the only two candidates endorsed by Tunisia’s electoral commission ISIE to vie against Saied for the presidency.
Before the election, ISIE had turned down the applications of over 14 candidates.
In the end, it announced a final selection of only three candidates: Saied, a former member of parliament Zouhair Maghzaoui, and businessman Zammel.
On September 18, Zammel’s attorney announced that he was facing a 20-month sentence for allegations of illegally obtaining voter support signatures.
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