Tunisia: Olfa Hamdi, opposition figure and former head of Tunisair, sentenced to four years by a military court

A Tunisian military court has sentenced opposition figure Olfa Hamdi to four years in prison and an 80,000 dinar fine, equivalent to approximately 26,000 dollars, her lawyer Akram Moussa announced on Wednesday, October 21, 2026, according to Reuters.

The sentence is the result of two separate convictions of two years each, the lawyer specified. The charges brought against her include plotting against state security and inciting military personnel to disobey orders. According to Al Jazeera, these accusations stem from posts shared on social media. Olfa Hamdi had already been sentenced to two years in prison in March 2026 in a separate case.

An engineer turned opposition figure

Olfa Hamdi leads the Third Republic Party. A dual Tunisian-American national, she briefly headed Tunisair, the national airline, and runs a consulting firm in the United States, where she resided. She was arrested in February 2026 upon disembarking from a plane at the country's main airport, Reuters reports.

In 2024, she had sought to run for president; her candidacy was rejected because she was 36 years old, while the Constitution sets the minimum age at 40, Al Jazeera recalls. Since then, she has been calling for a transitional government and early presidential elections.

Civilians before military justice

The most significant aspect of this case is not the length of the sentence, but the jurisdiction: a civilian politician being tried by military judges for words written online. In 2011, Tunisia was the country where a cycle of freedoms won in the streets began; the military court is once again becoming an instrument of political life there.

According to Reuters, the conviction is part of a series of measures targeting opponents of President Kais Saied, and many opposition members, activists, and journalists are currently imprisoned. Kais Saied, who has been criticized since 2021 for his concentration of power, rejects these accusations: he maintains that he is not a dictator and asserts that the law applies to everyone.

The weekend before the verdict, thousands of Tunisians demonstrated against the head of state in the largest mobilization in years, accusing the government of weakening democracy and mismanaging the economy, according to the same source. The U.S. State Department has stated that it is following Olfa Hamdi's situation "closely," Al Jazeera reports.

The defense can appeal. The case has become a test for the Tunisian justice system: determining whether the uniform can permanently settle political disputes in a country where civil society, led by unions and lawyers, remains one of the most organized on the continent.