Tunisia Presidential Candidate Sentenced to 12 Years in Prison

Tunisian politician Ayachi Zammel (Asharq Al-Awsat)
Tunisian politician Ayachi Zammel (Asharq Al-Awsat)
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Tunisia Presidential Candidate Sentenced to 12 Years in Prison

Tunisian politician Ayachi Zammel (Asharq Al-Awsat)
Tunisian politician Ayachi Zammel (Asharq Al-Awsat)

Tunisian politician Ayachi Zammel, a candidate in the north African country's October 6 presidential election, has been sentenced for 12 years in prison, but his lawyer said on Tuesday his client has the right to run for elections.

“The court in Tunis sentenced Ayachi Zammel to 12 years in prison in four cases” related to voter endorsements, lawyer Abdessater Messoudi told AFP. Messoudi said Zammel “remains a candidate in the election” on Sunday.

Monday’s ruling is the third prison sentence imposed on Zammel in two weeks, just five days before the presidential election.

Last Wednesday, a Jendouba court handed down a six-month jail sentence to Zammel for “falsification of documents,” adding to a 20-month term the same court imposed on September 18.

A total of 37 separate prosecutions have been launched against him nationwide on similar charges, his lawyer said.

The Tunisian judiciary accuses Zammel of breaking the rules on endorsements.

He was arrested on September 2 on suspicion of falsifying popular endorsements before he was released on September 6. But, the candidate was almost immediately rearrested on similar accusations.

Zammel, 47, is one of just three candidates approved by Tunisia's Independent High Authority for Elections (ISIE), along Saied, 66 and former parliamentarian Zouhair Maghzaoui, 59.

The final ISIE list excluded Imed Daimi, an adviser to former president Moncef Marzouki, former minister Mondher Zenaidi and opposition party leader Abdellatif Mekki.

Human Rights Watch accused ISIE of skewing the ballot with at least eight prospective candidates prosecuted, convicted or imprisoned in the run-up to the election.

Prospective candidates had also complained of bureaucratic obstacles such as obtaining the required paperwork to enable them to put their names forward in the election.

The recent developments came two days after Tunisia's parliament approved a law stripping the Administrative Court of its authority to adjudicate electoral disputes.

Out of a total 161 lawmakers, 116 voted for the major amendment to the electoral law.

Civil rights activists and opposition parties that opposed the amendment said it threatens the integrity of the elections.



US Says Israel Must Improve Gaza's Humanitarian Situation or Risk Aid

 People attempt to extinguish a fire at the site of an Israeli strike on tents sheltering displaced people, amid the Israel-Hamas conflict, in Deir Al-Balah in the central Gaza Strip. REUTERS/Ramadan Abed
People attempt to extinguish a fire at the site of an Israeli strike on tents sheltering displaced people, amid the Israel-Hamas conflict, in Deir Al-Balah in the central Gaza Strip. REUTERS/Ramadan Abed
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US Says Israel Must Improve Gaza's Humanitarian Situation or Risk Aid

 People attempt to extinguish a fire at the site of an Israeli strike on tents sheltering displaced people, amid the Israel-Hamas conflict, in Deir Al-Balah in the central Gaza Strip. REUTERS/Ramadan Abed
People attempt to extinguish a fire at the site of an Israeli strike on tents sheltering displaced people, amid the Israel-Hamas conflict, in Deir Al-Balah in the central Gaza Strip. REUTERS/Ramadan Abed

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin said Israel must take urgent steps to improve the humanitarian situation in Gaza to avoid legal action involving US military aid, according to news reports on Tuesday.

"We are writing now to underscore the US government's deep concern over the deteriorating humanitarian situation in Gaza, and seek urgent and sustained actions by your government this month to reverse this trajectory," they wrote in an Oct. 13 letter to their Israeli counterparts, posted by an Axios reporter on X, according to Reuters.

The State Department and Pentagon did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Representatives for Israel's government also could not be immediately reached for comment.

The report comes as Israeli forces expand operations into northern Gaza amid ongoing concerns about access to humanitarian aid throughout the enclave and civilians' access to food, water and medicine.

US officials earlier this year said Israel may have violated international humanitarian law using US-supplied weapons during its military operation in Gaza.

This week's letter cited Section 620i of the Foreign Assistance Act, which restricts (prohibits) military aid to countries that impede delivery of US humanitarian assistance.

It also cited a National Security Memorandum that US President Joe Biden issued in February that requires the State Department to report to Congress on whether it finds credible Israel's assurances that its use of US weapons does not violate US or international law.