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.

Tunisian President Kais Saied R meets with Iraqi Minister of Culture Tourism and Antiquities Ahmed Fakak Al-Badr

Dozens of members of Tunisia’s largest opposition party have been arrested this week ahead of the formal start this weekend of the campaign season for the country’s presidential election.

A court in Tunisia has imprisoned one of only two candidates approved to run in next month’s presidential election against Kais Saied, the authoritarian leader who has stepped up repression ahead of the polls.

Saied has cracked down on the opposition and “ extinguished hopes of a fair vote ,” the Financial Times reported, arresting rivals and dismantling institutions since his 2019 election. Nonetheless, European countries have been working with Tunisia to reduce cross-Mediterranean migration: The European Union pledged it $120 million in funding to combat smuggling,

A Tunisian judge has sentenced presidential candidate Ayachi Zammel to 20 months in prison on charges of falsifying and buying signatures required to file his candidacy, his lawyer confirmed to The National.