TUNIS (Reuters) – Prominent Tunisian lawyer Sonia Dahmani, known for her criticism of President Kais Saied, has been sentenced to a year in prison, her legal representatives said on Saturday. .
The court’s ruling fuels opposition fears that critical voices will continue to be targeted ahead of the October 6 presidential election
“The sentence of one year in prison is unjust and confirms an attack on freedom of expression,” Dahmani’s lawyer, Sami Ben Ghazi, told Reuters.
Dahmani was arrested in May after he said on a television show that Tunisia was an unhappy country to live in.
Opposition leaders, many of whom are in jail, accuse Saied’s government of putting pressure on the judiciary to target his election rivals.
They say fair and credible elections cannot be held unless jailed politicians are released and the media is allowed to operate without government pressure.
Opposition Republican leader Lotfi Mraihi, who has announced his intention to run in the presidential election, was arrested on Wednesday on suspicion of money laundering.
Abir Moussi, leader of the Free Constitution party and a prominent candidate, has been in jail since October 2023 on charges of endangering public safety.
Some potential candidates, including Safi Saeed, Mondher Znaidi, Nizar Chaari and Abdel Elatif May Abd Ellatif Mekki faces prosecution on suspicion of fraud and money laundering.
Rached Ghannouchi, a fierce critic of Said and leader of the main opposition Ennahda party, was jailed last year on charges of inciting police and conspiring to endanger national security.
Said, a retired law professor who was elected president in 2019, has not officially announced his candidacy for re-election. Last year he said he would not hand over power to what he called non-patriots.
In 2021, Saied dissolved parliament and began to govern by decree, a move that the opposition called a coup. Saied said his measures were legal and necessary to end years of rampant corruption among the political elite.
