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.

A candidate for president in Tunisia has been sentenced to 20 months in prison on election fraud charges that his attorney decried as politically motivated.

Tunisia’s government jailed a leading opposition figure ahead of next month’s election. Ayachi Zammel, one of just two candidates approved to run against the authoritarian President Kais Saied, was sentenced to 20 months over alleged forgery: His campaign said the move was politically motivated.

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.