Judges of Kais Saied Prevent Presidential Candidate from Media Appearances
The presidential candidate Abdel Latif El Mekki, who was reinstated into the Tunisian presidential race by a final ruling from the Tunisian Administrative Court on Tuesday after his candidacy was rejected by the election authority, must now deal with a judicial order preventing him from traveling and appearing in the media.
Abdel Latif El Mekki, the former Minister of Health and former leader of the Ennahda party before founding the Labour and Achievement Party, is under judicial investigation concerning the death of businessman Jilani Daboussi due to health complications in 2014 following his release from prison. In July, an investigative judge at the Tunis Primary Court decided to keep the former Minister of Health under judicial review without detention, with a travel ban and restrictions on his movement and media appearances.
Regarding how El Mekki will handle this media ban when he is on the verge of an electoral campaign, his campaign manager Ahmed Nafati said in press statements that the candidate’s legal team will convene to look into this matter and its implications.
Jilani Daboussi, who was a member of the House of Representatives and the central committee of the now-dissolved Democratic Constitutional Rally Party, died in 2014 after spending 31 months in pretrial detention on corruption charges. In January 2022, Tunisia’s public prosecutor opened an investigation into charges of attempted premeditated murder and torture, mistreatment by a public official, and negligence in providing legal aid.
Additionally, El Mekki was given an initial sentence of eight months in prison and a lifetime ban from candidacy in a case concerning the authenticity of endorsements for the 2024 presidential elections. The Tunisian Administrative Court had ruled yesterday in favor of El Mekki’s appeal against the Independent High Authority for Elections’ decision to reject his candidacy for the presidential elections scheduled for October 6. Another appeal by politician Naji Jalloul was rejected, while decisions in four other similar cases are expected by the court on Thursday.
The Independent High Authority for Elections in Tunisia had accepted nominations from only three presidential candidates, including incumbent President Kais Saied seeking a second term, along with the Secretary-General of the “People’s Movement” Zouhair Maghzaoui and businessman Ayachi Zammel, while rejecting 14 applications, some from opposition political figures.
