Tunisia passes law to strip courts of power over election authority appointed by president

TUNIS, Tunisia (AP) — Tunisia’s parliament amended a law on Friday, stripping power from courts over decisions made by an embattled election authority whose members are appointed by President Kais Saied. Nine days before the presidential election, a majority of members of...

Tunisia's coast guard finds bodies of 13 migrants washed up on its shores

TUNIS, Tunisia (AP) — The bodies of 13 migrants from sub-Saharan Africa were found washed up on Tunisia's Mediterranean coast this week as authorities struggle to stem unauthorized boat crossings from North Africa to Europe. Tunisia's Coast Guard said the bodies were recovered on...

The ICC is asked to investigate a crackdown on opposition in Tunisia and claims of migrant abuse

THE HAGUE, Netherlands (AP) — Lawyers and families of jailed Tunisian opposition leaders called on the International Criminal Court on Tuesday to investigate a crackdown on political opposition and the abuse of Black African migrants in the North African country, which has been offered European...

A Tunisian presidential candidate sentenced to 20 months vows to campaign from prison

TUNIS, Tunisia (AP) — One of the candidates challenging Tunisian President Kais Saied in the country's presidential election next month has been sentenced to prison on fraud charges that his attorney decried as politically motivated. Two weeks after his arrest, a court in the city...

The presidential campaign season in Tunisia is officially underway a day after protests

TUNIS, Tunisia (AP) — The official start of the presidential campaign season in Tunisia began on Saturday, a day after Tunisians took their anger to the streets of the capital to decry what protesters say is the deteriorating state of the country. In what appeared to be the largest...

Tunisian authorities escalate pre-election crackdown and arrest Islamists en masse

TUNIS, Tunisia (AP) — Dozens of members of Tunisia’s largest opposition party were arrested this week ahead of the formal start of campaign season for the country’s presidential election, attorneys and officials from the party said Friday. Ennahda, the Islamist party that rose...

Authorities in Tunisia have arrested at least 80 members of the largest opposition party this week, party officials say

Rejected poll monitors accuse Tunisia's election authorities of bias

TUNIS, Tunisia (AP) — Election officials in Tunisia doubled down Monday on their decision to deny accreditation to some election observer groups who say the move shows the October presidential contest in the North African country won't be free and fair. The Independent High...

UN rights chief urges voters to beware 'strongman' politicians who 'throw glitter in our eyes'

GENEVA (AP) — The U.N. human rights chief on Monday urged voters to be wary of “strongman” politicians and personalities "that throw glitter in our eyes” as more elections loom in a busy electoral calendar this year. Volker Türk didn't mention leaders or countries by name,...

Tunisia's electoral authority approves just 2 candidates to challenge Saied. 1 has been detained

TUNIS, Tunisia (AP) — Tunisia’s electoral authority on Monday definitively approved just two candidates to challenge President Kais Saied in elections next month in the struggling North African country — and one of them was promptly arrested. Businessman candidate Ayachi Zammel...