Tunisian MP jailed eight months for mocking President Kais Saied in social media post

A Tunisian court has sentenced MP Ahmed Saidani to eight months in prison over social media posts mocking President Kais Saied following recent deadly floods.

Saidani was arrested earlier this month after criticizing Saied’s visits to flood-affected areas, sarcastically referring to him as the “supreme commander of sanitation and rainwater drainage.” On Thursday, he was convicted of insulting others via communication networks, according to a judicial official.

His lawyer, Houssem Eddine Ben Attia, told AFP that the prosecution was based on a telecommunications law criminalizing harm to others through social media — an offence that carries a potential sentence of up to two years in prison.

Growing Concerns Over Crackdown

Human rights groups say the case reflects an intensifying crackdown on dissent since Saied suspended parliament in 2021 and began ruling by decree. Ironically, Saidani had previously supported Saied’s consolidation of power and the arrest of opposition figures before becoming one of his outspoken critics.

In his Facebook posts, Saidani accused the president of monopolizing decision-making while avoiding accountability. He also mocked what he described as Saied’s “hobby of taking photos with the poor and destitute” during visits to flooded neighborhoods in the capital, Tunis, and other regions.

Fellow MP Bilel Mechri condemned the arrest, telling Reuters it undermines parliament’s ability to hold the executive accountable. Tunisian lawmakers enjoy parliamentary immunity, though it does not apply in cases involving alleged criminal offences.

Flood Tragedy and Political Tensions

The controversy comes after Tunisia experienced its heaviest rainfall in more than 70 years last month, leaving at least five people dead and several missing.

Saied, elected in 2019 after the 2011 uprising that ousted longtime leader Zine al-Abidine Ben Ali, has defended his actions as necessary to restore stability and uphold the law. Critics, however, accuse the 67-year-old president of eroding democratic institutions and curbing political freedoms.

The sentencing of Saidani adds to mounting tensions in Tunisia’s political landscape, raising fresh questions about freedom of expression and the balance of power in the country’s evolving political system.