Tunisia Military Court Sentences Politician To Four Years In Prison

A Tunisian military court sentenced politician Olfa Hamdi, who once sought to run for president, to four years in prison for plotting against state security, her lawyer told AFP on Wednesday.

The charges against the dual Tunisian and American national stemmed from social media posts and included inciting military personnel to disobey orders, lawyer Akram Moussa said.

Hamdi briefly served as head of national airline company Tunisair before her sacking in 2021, later running a consulting firm in the United States.

In Tunisia’s 2024 presidential vote, Hamdi — then 36 — sought to run for the top role, but her candidacy was turned down as she did not meet the 40-year age limit for candidates.

A critic of President Kais Saied, Hamdi was already sentenced to two years in prison earlier this year after her arrest upon arrival at Tunis airport in February.

The latest sentence against her came from two additional convictions, with two years in prison for each, Moussa said.

A US State Department spokesman told AFP that Washington was “closely tracking the situation”.

“The Trump Administration has no higher priority than the safety and security of American citizens,” he said.

Hamdi heads the Third Republic party, which she founded in 2022, and has often criticised Saied and, at times, the country’s military on social media.

Tunisia emerged as the only democracy of the Arab Spring demonstrations of 2011, but since President Kais Saied staged a sweeping power grab in 2021, rights groups have criticised a major rollback of freedoms.

AFP