A Tunisian court late on Monday sentenced a prominent critic of President Kais Saied to two years in prison on a charge of insulting the election commission.

Abir Moussi reportedly filed to run for president in a vote set for October 6 over the weekend, according to local Mosaique radio.

The radio station reported the news about her sentencing on the same day a Tunisian court sentenced four presidential election candidates to eight months in prison, according to Reuters.

The four candidates — prominent politician Abdel Latif Mekki, activist Nizar Chaari, Judge Mourad Massoudi and Adel Dou — were banned from running for office on a charge of vote buying, Reuters reported citing politicians and a lawyer.

The sentences reinforce the fears of opposition politicians who accuse authorities of using arbitrary restrictions to ensure the reelection of Saied.

Kais Saied's increasingly authoritarian rule

Tunisia's President Kais Saied rose to power in 2019 after the death of Tunisia's first democratically elected president.

Saied positioned himself as a political newcomer standing up to a corrupt elite and won a landslide victory that year.

But since 2021, he embarked on a major power grab — he sacked the prime minister, suspended parliament and began ruling by decree.

rm/jsi (Reuters, AFP)