Abdessatar Messaoudi, right, attorney of Tunisian presidential candidate Ayachi Zammel,...

Abdessatar Messaoudi, right, attorney of Tunisian presidential candidate Ayachi Zammel, seen on the poster on the wall, speaks during a press conference after Zammel was sentenced to prison on fraud charges that Messaoudi decried as politically motivated, in Tunis, Monday, Sept. 16, 2024 Credit: AP/Ons Abid

TUNIS, Tunisia — One of the candidates challenging Tunisian President Kais Saied in the country's presidential election next month has been sentenced to prison on fraud charges that his attorney decried as politically motivated.

Two weeks after his arrest, a court in the city of Jendouba handed down a 20-month sentence for Ayachi Zammel on Wednesday evening, after convicting him of falsifying the signatures he gathered to file the candidacy papers needed to run for president. Zammel faces more than 20 charges in jurisdictions throughout Tunisia, including four that will be heard on Thursday.

The little-known businessman and head of Tunisia’s Azimoun party is one of two candidates challenging Saied in the North African nation’s Oct. 6 election.

His attorney Abdessattar Messaoudi said Zammel planned to conduct his campaign from behind bars.

“This is no surprise. We expected such a ruling given the harassment he has been subjected to since announcing his candidacy,” Messaoudi told The Associated Press.

Tunisia's election authority, ISIE, said Thursday that Zammel's imprisonment wouldn't affect his eligibility to run. Zammel will appear on the ballot alongside Saied and the only other approved candidate, Zouheir Maghzaoui, a former Saied supporter whose pan-Arabist party Echaab party was previously close to the president.

Zammel is among a long list of Saied's opponents who have faced criminal charges and prosecution in the volatile period leading up to October's election. In July, a court sentenced presidential candidate Lotfi Mraihi to eight months in prison on vote buying charges and banned him from politics. Last month, courts sentenced two candidates — Nizar Chaari and Karim Gharbi — on similar signature fraud charges.

Abdessatar Messaoudi, right, attorney of Tunisian presidential candidate Ayachi Zammel,...

Abdessatar Messaoudi, right, attorney of Tunisian presidential candidate Ayachi Zammel, seen on the poster on the wall, speaks during a press conference after Zammel was sentenced to prison on fraud charges that Messaoudi decried as politically motivated, in Tunis, Monday, Sept. 16, 2024 Credit: AP/Ons Abid

After a court required Tunisia's election authority to reinstate three candidates who had been ruled ineligible to run, one of them — Abdellatif El Mekki — was arrested on charges that stemmed from a 2014 murder investigation that critics have called politically motivated.

Saied's two most prominent critics, the right-wing Free Destourian Party’s Abir Moussi and the Islamist party Ennahda's Rached Ghannouchi, have also been in prison since last year.

Civil liberty advocates have decried the crackdown as a symptom of Tunisia's democratic backslide. Amnesty International this week called it “a clear pre-election assault on the pillars of human rights and the rule of law.”

__

Abdessatar Messaoudi, right, attorney of Tunisian presidential candidate Ayachi Zammel,...

Abdessatar Messaoudi, right, attorney of Tunisian presidential candidate Ayachi Zammel, seen on the poster on the stand, speaks during a press conference after Zammel was sentenced to prison on fraud charges that Messaoudi decried as politically motivated, in Tunis, Monday, Sept. 16, 2024 Credit: AP/Ons Abid

Metz reported from Rabat, Morocco.

Get the latest news and more great videos at NewsdayTV Credit: Newsday

New grub for Islanders season ... Study: Penn Station needs to expand ... What's up on LI this weekend ... Get the latest news and more great videos at NewsdayTV

Get the latest news and more great videos at NewsdayTV Credit: Newsday

New grub for Islanders season ... Study: Penn Station needs to expand ... What's up on LI this weekend ... Get the latest news and more great videos at NewsdayTV

SUBSCRIBE

Unlimited Digital AccessOnly 25¢for 6 months

ACT NOWSALE ENDS SOON | CANCEL ANYTIME