Close to the Brotherhood: Tunisian Politician Safi Said Arrested While Attempting to Cross the Border

Riadh Noyawi, the spokesperson for the courts in Kasserine, confirmed that the public prosecutor at the Kasserine Court of First Instance (central-western Tunisia) decided to detain the Tunisian political activist close to the Brotherhood, Safi Said, and his companion, on charges of attempting to illegally cross the Algerian border, according to the Tunisian radio station “Mosaïque FM.”

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Last June, the Tunis Court of First Instance sentenced the former parliamentarian Safi Said (70 years old) in absentia to four months in prison in an electoral case for charges of fraud and falsification in the collection of signatures needed for his candidacy in the upcoming presidential election scheduled for October.

Safi Said is a former parliamentarian from the dissolved 2019 Parliament, which was chaired by Rached Ghannouchi, the leader of the Islamist party Ennahdha. He is also a well-known writer and journalist, and one of the political activists who announced their intention to officially run in the presidential election.

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On August 9 of this year, Safi Said announced at a press conference that he was withdrawing from the presidential race after the Independent High Authority for Elections rejected his application due to the absence of a criminal record certificate (certificate No. 3) and the lack of required popular endorsements.

Recently, the issue of “signature falsification” has dominated discussions on the presidential elections in Tunisia, following several complaints and reports submitted to the Independent High Authority for Elections, and the spread of stories confirming violations and breaches during the collection of the required signatures for the presidential candidacy.

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Last Saturday, the Independent High Authority for Elections in Tunisia announced the acceptance of the applications of three candidates for the presidential election out of 17 candidates: Kais Saied, the leader of the People’s Movement Zohair Maghzaoui, and the founder of the “Azmoun” movement Ayachi Zammal.