A judge in Tunis on Friday imposed a gag order and movement restrictions on a potential presidential candidate.
Abdellatif Mekki, formerly Tunisia’s health minister and a notable leader of the Islamist movement Ennahda before establishing his own political party, is among several former politicians under investigation for the 2014 murder of a prominent physician.
Work and Accomplishment, his political party, has condemned the timing of the murder charges as politically motivated, particularly because of his intentions to challenge Saied in Tunisia’s October election.
“We firmly denounce these arbitrary actions, viewing them as an attempt to politically target a serious contender in the presidential race,” the party stated in a Friday announcement.
Democratic Decline in Tunisia
The latest potential candidate to face legal challenges is Mekki, encountering obstacles before campaigning has even started in the North African nation of 12 million people.
The obstacles confronting opposition candidates stand in stark contrast to the democratic aspirations that inspired Tunisia a decade ago.
After the overthrow of former dictator Zine El Abidine Ben Ali in 2011, Tunisia emerged as one of the few success stories of the Arab Spring, conducting peaceful democratic elections and reforming its constitution in 2014.
Increasing signs of democratic decline have alarmed observers since 2019. Saied has jailed political rivals, dissolved parliament, and altered the constitution to enhance presidential power.
Notwithstanding Tunisia’s ongoing political and economic difficulties, many citizens continue to back him and his populist message against corrupt elites and foreign meddling in domestic affairs.
A week prior to Mekki’s situation, Lotfi Mraihi, a physician and experienced politician who announced his candidacy for the presidency, was detained on money laundering charges.
As the president of the nationalist Republican People’s Union party, Mraihi is being held after a judge issued an additional warrant, adding to the charges initially filed against him in January.
According to a spokesperson for the court in Tunis, the arrest warrant was issued “on suspicion of money laundering, asset transfers, and opening foreign bank accounts without the Central Bank’s consent”.
In January, Mraihi received a suspended six-month prison sentence linked to a 2019 investigation into accusations of vote-buying.
Legal Agenda, a Tunisian non-governmental organisation, labeled the arrest as a display of authority.
“The confinement of prospective candidate Lotfi Mrahi signifies another step by the authorities in consolidating control over the electoral process, particularly after they introduced ‘tailor-made’ conditions for candidacy.
Additionally, judicial decisions are creating obstacles for other candidates in the race,” the organisation stated in a recent release.
The apprehensions of Mekki and Mraihi expand the list of Tunisian politicians facing judicial action under Saied’s government.
In February, Amnesty International indicated that more than 20 political critics of Saied’s administration had been arrested, detained, or convicted over the past year due to their political activities.
The targeting of Saied’s political opponents has encompassed a wide range of political factions, including Islamists such as Rached Ghannouchi, the 83-year-old leader of Ennahda, as well as nationalists like Abir Moussi, the 49-year-old president of the Free Destourian Party.
Since May 2024, Ghannouchi has been in prison on charges of foreign interference, a situation that Ennahda, Tunisia’s largest Islamist party, has criticised as politically motivated.
In February 2022, during a funeral, he made statements that appeared to label the president as “a tyrant”, leading Tunisia’s anti-terrorism court to sentence him to one year in prison along with a fine.
He received a one-year prison sentence and a fine from Tunisia’s anti-terrorism court due to public comments he made at a funeral in February 2022, during which he seemed to refer to the president as “a tyrant”.
Facing ongoing legal challenges, Ghannouchi was sentenced this weekend to three years in prison for allegedly being involved in an illegal foreign financing scheme during the most recent presidential election.
Before her arrest in October, Moussi’s party had announced plans to challenge Saied in the upcoming election. Despite her continued imprisonment, the party reaffirmed these plans earlier this month.
Various political parties have expressed outrage over the arrests, which have intensified worries about Tunisia’s troubled political and economic landscape.
Work and Accomplishment, Mekki’s party, stated that his arrest on Friday would “disrupt the overall political climate, damage the credibility of the electoral process, and tarnish Tunisia’s reputation”.