“The court in Tunis handed Ayachi Zammel 12 years in prison across four cases related to voter endorsements,” lawyer Abdessater Messoudi told AFP.
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Despite the ruling, Messoudi confirmed that Zammel “remains a candidate in the election” set for Sunday.
Incumbent President Kais Saied, widely seen as the frontrunner, is seeking re-election after a controversial power grab that dissolved parliament and reduced the powers of the legislature. Saied, who has been in office since 2019, faces limited opposition.
Zammel, a former lawmaker and leader of a small liberal party, is one of just two candidates approved by Tunisia’s electoral authority, ISIE, to challenge Saied. The third candidate is former parliamentarian Zouhair Maghzaoui.
Ahead of the election, ISIE had rejected bids from around 14 hopefuls before finalizing the candidate list.
Zammel had previously received a 20-month sentence on September 18 for forging voter endorsements, according to his lawyer.
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