Tunisian presidential candidate Ayachi Zammel has been arrested on charges of lying about campaign details for next month’s election.
His campaign manager, Mahdi Abdeljaouad, revealed that Zammel, one of the three candidates approved to contest in the October 6 poll, was taken to a police station outside the capital, Tunis.
Following the development, Human Rights Watch (HRW) accused the North African country of hindering President Kais Saied’s rivals from contesting.
The current president, Saied, who is running for re-election, was elected in 2019. However, he carried out a significant power grab in 2021 and has been governing by decree ever since.
According to Abdeljaouad, Zammel falsified endorsement signatures required under Tunisian law to prove he has enough support to stand.
Zammel’s party treasurer was also arrested on similar charges last month and will stand trial on September 13.
In Tunisia, one of the major requirements for candidates to appear on the ballot is to present a list of signatures from 10,000 registered voters, ten parliamentarians or 40 local officials.
HRW reports that at least eight prospective candidates have been “prosecuted, convicted or imprisoned”.
Six candidates have been approved to run so far, and the election authority, ISIE, is expected to release the final list of candidates this week.
