Tunisian former presidential hopeful arrested over illegal border crossing

A Tunisian former parliamentarian who tried to stand in upcoming presidential elections before dropping out has been placed in pre-trial detention after allegedly crossing the border with Algeria illegally, a court told local media on Wednesday.

Safi Said, 70, a former journalist and a vocal opponent of Tunisian President Kais Saied, was sentenced to four months in prison last June for forging ballot signatures in the 2014 presidential elections.

On Tuesday, a court in Kasserine, in western Tunisia, “ordered the detention of political activist Safi Said and a companion of his for illegally crossing the border of a neighbouring country,” the court’s spokesman told local media.

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Tunisian hopeful one of many who are jailed

Earlier this year, Said, who is also an author, announced his candidacy for the presidential elections scheduled for October 6, before dropping out of the race and calling the elections a “bad farce”.

He joins a number of political figures critical of Saied who have been prosecuted and jailed.

On Tuesday, watchdog Human Rights Watch said Tunisian authorities “have prosecuted, convicted, or imprisoned at least eight prospective candidates” for the elections.

The North African country was “gearing up for a presidential election amid increased repression of dissent and free speech, without crucial checks and balances on President Saied’s power”, it added.

Jailed would-be candidates include Issam Chebbi, leader of the centrist Al Joumhouri party, and Ghazi Chaouchi, head of the social-democratic party Democratic Current, both held for “plotting against the state”.

‘False news’ law claims another

Earlier this month, Abir Moussi, a key opposition figure who has been in jail since October, was sentenced to two years in prison under a “false news” law, days after she reportedly submitted her presidential candidacy via her lawyers.

Only two candidates — former member of parliament Zouhair Maghzaoui, 59, and the leader of a small liberal party, Ayachi Zammel — were pre-selected to run against Saied, accused by his detractors of authoritarianism.

The High Independent Authority for Elections (ISIE) said it rejected 14 presidential hopefuls for “not collecting enough endorsements”.

To be listed on the ballot, candidates are required to present a list of signatures from 10,000 registered voters.

Several would-be candidates have been accused of forging these signatures.

Some hopefuls have also said they were unofficially barred from running because authorities refused to give them a copy of a clean criminal record, a required document in the candidates’ submissions.

© Agence France-Presse