A potential presidential candidate in Tunisia has been sentenced to two years in prison, marking another setback to the country’s fledgling opposition challenging President Kais Saied as he seeks a new term. Moussi’s lawyer Nafaa Laribi told The Associated Press on Tuesday that she still intends to run in the Oct. 6 presidential election, and that, unlike other candidates, nothing in Monday's sentence prevents her from running. The sentence is the latest in a growing crackdown that observers have said is politically motivated against Saied's critics, regardless of political affiliation. With Moussi and other leading opposition figures in prison, Saied is expected to face little election competition in what was once the Middle East and North Africa’s most progressive democracy. A strong critic of Islamists such as imprisoned Ennahda leader Rached Ghannouchi, Moussi was an official in longtime President Zine El Abidine Ben Ali’s ruling party.
