A Tunisian military court has sentenced an opposition leader to four years in prison on charges of plotting against state security and inciting the military to disobey orders, her lawyer has said. The charges against Olfa Hamdi, a dual Tunisian and United States national, stemmed from social media posts, her lawyer Akram Moussa said on Wednesday. Hamdi has repeatedly criticised Tunisian President Kais Saied’s rule and called for a transitional government and early presidential elections.
Critics say the case against Hamdi is the latest in a crackdown on opponents of Saied. In Tunisia’s 2024 elections, Hamdi, who was then 36, sought to run for president. Her candidacy was rejected for not meeting the 40-year age minimum for candidates.
Hamdi, the leader of the Third Republic Party, was detained at Tunisia’s main airport after disembarking from a flight in February. She had been living abroad, running a consulting firm in the US after briefly serving as the head of Tunisia’s national airline Tunisair. Hamdi’s sentence comprises two separate two-year prison terms from two additional convictions and 80,000 dinars ($26,000) in fines, her lawyer said.
Hamdi was also sentenced in March in a separate case to two years in prison. Global human rights organisations have widely criticised the cases against her. A US Department of State spokesperson told the news agency that Washington was “closely tracking the situation”.
Rights groups have criticised Saied, accusing him of rolling back freedoms in a 2021 power grab. Thousands of Tunisians joined the largest protest against Saied in years on Saturday, accusing him of undermining democracy and mishandling the economy. Opposition leaders, activists and journalists have been imprisoned during his rule.
Saied rejects accusations that he is targeting political opponents and critics, saying the law applies to everyone regardless of their position.
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