As part of its monitoring of the upcoming Tunisian presidential elections scheduled for October 6, the Committee for Justice (CFJ) has released third weekly bulletin under its project “The Right to Free Elections.” This bulletin covers the activities and practices of the electoral process for the period from August 16 to August 22, 2024.
Restrictions on Endorsements and Rejection of Electoral Appeals:
The bulletin addressed the violations observed in the electoral process, the first of which was the rejection by the appellate chambers of the Tunis Administrative Court of seven appeals submitted by presidential candidates whose applications had been rejected. Additionally, the process of collecting endorsements (authorizations) for candidates faced prevention and restrictions, affecting many citizens who had issued endorsements for presidential candidates but were not accepted or documented.
Intimidation of Candidates and Campaign Members:
The defense committee for the accepted presidential candidate and leader of the Azmoun Movement, Ayachi Zammal, announced that a decision was made to detain Souar Al-Burqawi, responsible for collecting endorsements in his campaign, for 48 hours starting on August 19. On August 21, the public prosecutor at the Tunis 2 Primary Court issued an arrest warrant against her.
Similarly, on August 21, 2024, former potential candidate and political activist Imad Daeimi stated that after reviewing the ruling issued by the seventh appellate chamber of the Administrative Court, which rejected his appeal on procedural grounds, it became clear that the reason for the rejection was his submission of the petition to the court in PDF format, despite his later attaching a Word version of the petition and report!
Violation of the Right to Access Information Without Restrictions:
On August 20, 2024, the High Electoral Commission revoked the license granted to journalist Khawla Bou Karima, the editor-in-chief of the “Numidia” news website, to monitor the elections due to her failure to ensure objective, balanced, and neutral media coverage of the electoral process.
Arbitrary Detention Related to the Electoral Process:
On August 22, the public prosecutor at the Kasrin Primary Court decided to refer political activist Safi Said, who announced his withdrawal from the presidential election last week, to the local court in the Feryana district, along with his “private driver.” The official spokesperson for the Kasrin courts confirmed that the public prosecutor ordered the detention of “Safi” due to his unauthorized crossing of the land border into a neighboring country (Algeria).
The bulletin provides an overview of the recent developments in the Tunisian presidential electoral process, highlighting significant violations of civil and political rights, as well as violations of the electoral law. This bulletin focuses on the ongoing challenges faced by candidates and the measures taken by authorities that undermine the integrity of the electoral process.
