A Tunisian court on Thursday sentenced lawmaker Ahmed Saidani to eight months in prison over social media posts mocking President Kais Saied, in a ruling critics say underscores a widening crackdown on dissent.
Saidani, who once backed Saied’s campaign against political rivals, has recently emerged as a vocal critic of the president, accusing him of concentrating power while shifting responsibility for the country’s problems onto others.
A judicial official said the parliamentarian was convicted of insulting others through electronic communication networks. He was arrested earlier this month after posting a Facebook message ridiculing Saied and referring to him as the “supreme commander of sewage and rainwater drainage.”
“This is a violation of the law and an attack on institutions,” Saidani’s colleague Bilel Mechri told Reuters. “How can parliament hold the executive to account if a lawmaker is unlawfully arrested for expressing critical views?”
Saidani was elected in late 2022 in parliamentary elections marked by historically low turnout, held after Saied dissolved the previous parliament and dismissed the government in 2021.
Since then, Saied has governed largely by decree, a move opponents have described as a coup. Dozens of opposition figures, journalists and critics have been detained since he consolidated power.
Human rights organisations say the president has entrenched one-man rule and turned Tunisia into what they describe as an “open-air prison” to silence opponents. Saied rejects the criticism, saying his actions are lawful and aimed at “cleansing” the country.