Tunisian Politicians Accused of Electoral Crimes Face Financial Penalties, Imprisonment

Tunisian President Kais Saied takes the oath of office in Tunis, Tunisia, October 23, 2019. REUTERS/Zoubeir Souissi/File Photo
Tunisian President Kais Saied takes the oath of office in Tunis, Tunisia, October 23, 2019. REUTERS/Zoubeir Souissi/File Photo
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Tunisian Politicians Accused of Electoral Crimes Face Financial Penalties, Imprisonment

Tunisian President Kais Saied takes the oath of office in Tunis, Tunisia, October 23, 2019. REUTERS/Zoubeir Souissi/File Photo
Tunisian President Kais Saied takes the oath of office in Tunis, Tunisia, October 23, 2019. REUTERS/Zoubeir Souissi/File Photo

High-profile politicians in Tunisia, including former prime ministers, political party leaders and ex-ministers, who have been accused of “election crimes”, are facing financial penalties and prison sentences.

If convicted, the politicians may also be barred from running in elections or holding public office in the future.

According to critics of President Kais Saied, opening the file of alleged electoral violations could eliminate competitors, who are expected to run against him in the 2024 electoral race, such as former President Moncef Marzouki and ex-PM Youssef Chahed.

In remarks to Asharq Al-Awsat, the vice president of the Independent High Election Commission (IHEC) said that the Tunisian electoral law calls for financial penalties against candidates who have committed electoral crimes, and prison sentences of up to five years for presidential candidates who received funds from abroad during the election campaign.

He added that the same law imposes a penalty of freezing membership for those who won the elections after receiving foreign funding, in addition to depriving them from running for elections for a period of five years starting from the date of the ruling.

Saied had responded to accusations of receiving foreign funds during his election campaign, by saying that the only amount he paid during the 2019 elections was 50 Tunisian dinars (about $18). He also asserted that he refused to obtain the public funding, which is provided by the state for the presidential candidates.

The Workers’ Party led by Hamma Hammami, who is accused of committing electoral crimes, said he was surprised that the Tunisian president’s name was not included in the list of beneficiaries of political advertising and illegal propaganda, despite the electoral irregularities attributed to his campaign in the report of the Court of Auditors.

According to the report, Saied’s electoral campaign team had committed numerous electoral violations, in addition to creating 30 propaganda websites or accounts in Tunisia and abroad.



Kurdish Fighters Leave Northern City in Syria as Part of Deal with Central Government

A first contingent of Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) fighters leave Aleppo, headed for SDF-controlled northeastern Syria, in Aleppo, Syria, 04 April 2025. (EPA)
A first contingent of Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) fighters leave Aleppo, headed for SDF-controlled northeastern Syria, in Aleppo, Syria, 04 April 2025. (EPA)
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Kurdish Fighters Leave Northern City in Syria as Part of Deal with Central Government

A first contingent of Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) fighters leave Aleppo, headed for SDF-controlled northeastern Syria, in Aleppo, Syria, 04 April 2025. (EPA)
A first contingent of Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) fighters leave Aleppo, headed for SDF-controlled northeastern Syria, in Aleppo, Syria, 04 April 2025. (EPA)

Scores of US-backed Kurdish fighters left two neighborhoods in Syria’s northern city of Aleppo Friday as part of a deal with the central government in Damascus, which is expanding its authority in the country.

The fighters left the predominantly Kurdish northern neighborhoods of Sheikh Maksoud and Achrafieh, which had been under the control of Kurdish fighters in Aleppo over the past decade.

The deal is a boost to an agreement reached last month between Syria’s interim government and the Kurdish-led authority that controls the country’s northeast. The deal could eventually lead to the merger of the main US-backed force in Syria into the Syrian army.

The withdrawal of fighters from the US-backed and Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) came a day after dozens of prisoners from both sides were freed in Aleppo, Syria’s largest city.

Syria’s state news agency, SANA, reported that government forces were deployed along the road that SDF fighters will use to move between Aleppo and areas east of the Euphrates River, where the Kurdish-led force controls nearly a quarter of Syria.

Sheikh Maksoud and Achrafieh had been under SDF control since 2015 and remained so even when forces of ousted President Bashar al-Assad captured Aleppo in late 2016. The two neighborhoods remained under SDF control when forces loyal to current interim President Ahmed al-Sharaa captured the city in November, and days later captured the capital, Damascus, removing Assad from power.

After being marginalized for decades under the rule of the Assad family rule, the deal signed last month promises Syria’s Kurds “constitutional rights,” including using and teaching their language, which were banned for decades.

Hundreds of thousands of Kurds, who were displaced during Syria’s nearly 14-year civil war, will return to their homes. Thousands of Kurds living in Syria who have been deprived of nationality for decades under Assad will be given the right of citizenship, according to the agreement.

Kurds made up 10% of the country’s prewar population of 23 million. Kurdish leaders say they don’t want full autonomy with their own government and parliament. They want decentralization and room to run their day-to day-affairs.