Tunisian presidential candidate Ayachi Zammel has been rearrested shortly after he was released from pre-trial detention on suspicion of forging ballot signatures, his lawyer said on Friday.
Zammel, 43, is one of only two candidates approved by the electoral authority, ISIE, to challenge president Kais Saied in the October 6 poll.
A court in Manouba, west of the capital Tunis, ordered his temporary release on Thursday night after he spent four days in police custody, his lawyer, Abdessatar Messaoudi, said.
But, shortly afterwards, Zammel was arrested again on the same suspicions 鈥榬elated to ballot signatures鈥�, Messaoudi added. He is set to appear before a judge later today.
A little-known businessman and former parliamentarian, he headed Azimoun, a small liberal party, until late August, when he stepped down to run for president as an independent candidate.
His arrest on Monday came hours before ISIE gave a final list of presidential hopefuls including Zammel, Saied, and former parliamentarian Zouhair Maghzaoui for next month鈥檚 vote.
But the list dismissed three other hopefuls, ignoring court rulings that had granted them appeals on their initial rejection by the electoral authority.
They were Imed Daimi, an adviser to former president Moncef Marzouki, former minister Mondher Zenaidi and opposition party leader Abdellatif Mekki.
Experts have said they had a chance of winning against Saied.
Saied, the election鈥檚 frontrunner, won power in a 2019 election but orchestrated a sweeping power grab in 2021 and has since ruled by decree.
On Thursday, the European Union said Zammel鈥檚 arrest and the exclusion of the three hopefuls showed 鈥榓 continued limitation of the democratic space鈥� in the North African country that saw the onset of the Arab Spring uprisings in 2011.
鈥楾he rule of law and respect for the separation of powers are at the heart of democratic values, as are electoral rights and the right to a fair trial,鈥� the EU said in a statement.
Human Rights Watch says at least eight prospective candidates have been 鈥榩rosecuted, convicted or imprisoned鈥� in the run-up to the election.
The group said on Wednesday ISIE 鈥榟as intervened to skew the ballot in favour of Saied鈥�.
鈥楬olding elections amid such repression makes a mockery of Tunisians鈥� right to participate in free and fair elections鈥�, it added.