Lawyer Abdul Sattar Al-Masoudi told Agence France-Presse that the court of first instance in Kairouan (Center), Zamal was convicted on Monday evening in three separate cases related to forging signatures, and a prison sentence of one year and eight months was imposed on him in each of them, “for a total of five years in prison.”
He pointed out that Zamal’s three brothers, who were being tried in the same cases, were also sentenced to five years in prison.
Al-Masoudi explained that Zamal, who will appear on Thursday before a court of first instance in Manouba, near… Tunisia In a similar case, he has “so far accumulated 31 years of prison sentences,” noting that he is being pursued in 37 separate cases in all governorates for similar reasons.
Ayachi Zamal, 47 years old, is an engineer and investor in the agricultural sector. He was unable to campaign and was not known to the general public until these elections, in which he received only 7.35% of the votes.
Saied won a second term after winning 90.7% of the votes.
The judiciary accuses Zamal of violating the rules for collecting endorsement signatures, which were difficult to obtain, according to experts.
The candidacy file for the presidential elections requires collecting 10,000 endorsement signatures from voters, 10 representatives in Parliament, or 40 elected officials from local authorities.
Zamal, a former MP, was arrested on September 2, the same day the Electoral College approved his candidacy.
The European Union expressed its regret at the “continued restriction of the democratic space in Tunisia,” commenting on Zamal’s arrest and the electoral commission’s exclusion of three prominent competitors.
