A Tunisian military court has sentenced opposition leader Olfa Hamdi to four years in prison on charges of conspiring against national security and inciting the military to disobey orders, her lawyer Akram Moussa said on Wednesday.
According to the lawyer, the charges against Hamdi — who holds Tunisian and U.S. citizenship — stem from social media posts. Hamdi has repeatedly criticized how Tunisian President Kais Saied runs the country, and has called for a transitional government and an early presidential election.
The sentence handed down consisted of two two-year terms from separate rulings, along with a fine of 80,000 dinars (about $26,000), lawyer Moussa said. In March, Hamdi had also been sentenced to two years in prison in a separate case.
Hamdi, leader of the Third Republic party, was arrested at Tunisia's main airport shortly after disembarking from a flight in February. She had been living abroad and running a consulting firm in the United States, after a brief stint as head of the national carrier Tunisair.
In Tunisia's 2024 election, Hamdi — then 36 — sought to run for president, but her candidacy was rejected for failing to meet the minimum age requirement of 40 for candidates.
International human rights organizations have criticized the cases against Hamdi. A U.S. State Department spokesperson told AFP that Washington is "monitoring the situation closely," and said that President Donald Trump's administration places no priority higher than the safety and security of American citizens.
Critics say Hamdi's case is the latest development in a crackdown on opponents of President Saied. Human rights groups accuse Saied of rolling back freedoms since he seized power in 2021.
On Saturday, thousands of Tunisians joined the largest protest in years against Saied, accusing him of eroding democracy and mishandling the economy. During Saied's rule, many opposition leaders, activists and journalists have been jailed.
President Saied rejects accusations that he targets political opponents and critics, insisting the law applies to everyone regardless of their position.
