Tunisian President Kais Saied
A Tunisian military court on Tuesday has imprisoned four opposition lawmakers from the country’s dissolved parliament, their lawyer said.
Their arrest came amid growing concern over human rights abuses following President Kais Saied’s seizure of power last year that include parliament suspension, assumption of all governing powers, replacement of the judicial council that guaranteed judges’ independence and the independent electoral commission.
Saif Eddine Makhlouf, the head of the conservative Karama Party, and three other party members were charged with assaulting policemen last year during an incident at Tunis airport in which they said officers were preventing a woman from travelling. But they have denied the charge.
5-month prison sentences were issued to Makhlouf and Nidhal Saoudi and 3-month terms to Mohamed Affas and Meher Zid, their lawyer Anaour Awled Ali said.
Politicians in the country lost their immunity from prosecution after parliament was dissolved.
