Tunisia women jailed for buying candidate endorsements

TUNIS: Tunisia has sentenced four women to jail after convicting them of buying signatures of endorsement for a would-be challenger to President Kais Saied in upcoming elections, a court spokesman said on Friday.

Candidate registration for the October 6 presidential election began on Monday and closes at 5:00 pm (1600 GMT) next Tuesday.

Saied critics from across the political spectrum have complained that new, tougher endorsement requirements are making it nearly impossible to get on the ballot paper.

To be listed, candidates are required to provide signatures from 10,000 registered voters, with at least 500 voter signatures per constituency.

“The court sentenced three women to two-year sentences, which they began serving immediately, and another, who was tried in absentia, to four years,” said Alaeddine Aouadi, spokesman for the court in the northwestern town of Jendouba.

At Wednesday´s hearing, the four women were also deprived of their right to vote for 10 years, Aouadi said.

The women were convicted of handing over “money or gifts in kind” in exchange for voter endorsements for rapper turned businessman Karim Gharbi, better known by his stage name K2Rhym.

Saied, who was democratically elected in 2019 but orchestrated a sweeping power grab in 2021, is seeking a second term.

Would-be challengers include Kamel Akrout, a retired admiral, and Mondher Zenaidi, 74, a former minister who has presented his experience as an asset for debt-stricken Tunisia.