A<\/span> Tunisian appeal court affirmed presidential contender Ayachi Zammel’s 18-month prison sentence on Thursday, according to his lawyer, two days before the vote.<\/span><\/p>\n

Zammel, who has been in prison for a month, is one of three candidates running for the presidency, along with current President Kais Saied and politician Zouhair Maghzaoui.<\/p>\n

A Tunisian court has confirmed an imprisonment sentence earlier handed down to a presidential contender ahead of elections scheduled for Sunday in the North African country.<\/p>\n

The appeals court in the city of Jendouba in western Tunisia had upheld the 20-month jail sentence against detained presidential candidate Ayachi Zammel, his lawyer said.<\/p>\n

The ruling can be appealed and will not affect Zammel\u2019s candidacy, his lawyer said.<\/p>\n

Last month, a lower court issued the sentence against Zammel, a businessman and the head of the liberal Azimoun party, on charges of falsifying electoral endorsements.<\/p>\n

The Oct. 6 polls are pitting incumbent President Kais Saied against Zammel and Zouhair Maghzaoui of the leftist nationalist People\u2019s Movement.<\/p>\n

READ ALSO:
\n<\/strong>Iran and its allies will not back down from Israel, says Khamenei<\/strong><\/a><\/span><\/h3>\n

Serious challengers to Saied, who is seeking a second term in office, have been excluded, according to observers.<\/p>\n

The election commission has recently refused to reinstate three more presidential hopefuls who won court appeals to run for president.<\/p>\n

Critics have accused the panel of lacking in independence and clearing the way for Saied to win, accusations that the panel has denied.<\/p>\n

The vote will take place \u201cagainst a backdrop of increased repression of dissent, muzzling of the media, and continued attacks on judicial independence,\u201d Human Rights Watch said last month.<\/p>\n

Since 2021, Saied has consolidated his power by dissolving the parliament and calling early elections, steps that the opposition called a \u201ccoup.\u201d<\/p>\n

SOURCE:<\/strong><\/a>
\n<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

A Tunisian appeal court affirmed presidential contender Ayachi Zammel’s 18-month prison sentence on Thursday, according to his lawyer, two days before the vote. Zammel, who has been in prison for a month, is one of three candidates running for the presidency, along with current President Kais Saied and politician Zouhair Maghzaoui. A Tunisian court has<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":17,"featured_media":36464,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5,11],"tags":[17300,6493,1192,17299,9677,17301],"class_list":["post-36463","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-international","category-politics","tag-jail-sentence","tag-presidential-candidate","tag-tunisia","tag-tunisian-court","tag-upholds","tag-zammel"],"yoast_head":"\n