September 6 (EUROPA PRESS) –
The Court of First Instance of Manuba (Tunisia) has decided on Thursday to release Ayachi Zamel, one of the three candidates who remain endorsed for the presidential elections of this October 6 and who was arrested on Monday accused of allegedly falsifying the documents presented, precisely, to support his candidacy.
The Criminal Court has also postponed the hearing scheduled for this Thursday and will take place on September 19 following a request from his legal team, who have asked for more time to prepare their defence, according to Tunisian radio station Mossaique.
The decision comes just one day after the same court ordered Zamel to be placed in preventive detention after being questioned by the police.
The move comes just days after three other candidates seen as serious rivals to incumbent President Kais Saied, who is seeking a second term, were dismissed by the country’s electoral commission (ISIE), in a move that has sparked controversy as accusations of authoritarianism against Saied mount.
Zamel, 43, will have to appear in court as Saied sees the path cleared for him to re-elect his country’s leader. The court accuses him of having broken rules on sponsorships, as have the three candidates who have already been excluded from the electoral race despite the Administrative Court ruling in favour of reinstating them.
Abdelatif Meki, a former leader of the moderate Islamist party Ennahda; Monder Zenidi, a former minister during the regime of Zine el Abidine ben Ali; and Imed Daimi, an adviser to former president Moncef Marzuki, who is highly critical of Saied, were disqualified in early August along with 14 other candidates for lacking the necessary support, according to the authorities.
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