Ahmed Saidani is a Tunisian parliamentarian and political commentator who became the target of judicial repression after publicly criticising President Kais Saied and denouncing the concentration of executive power in Tunisia. Originally elected to parliament in the 2022 legislative elections held after President Kais Saied dissolved the previous parliament and began ruling by decree, Ahmed Saidani was initially considered supportive of the president’s post-2021 political project before later emerging as an increasingly vocal critic of authoritarian governance and the erosion of democratic institutions. In early February 2026, security forces arrested him following social media publications mocking President Kais Saied’s public appearances in flood-affected regions after devastating rainfall caused deaths and widespread damage across Tunisia. In one widely circulated Facebook post, Saidani sarcastically referred to the president as the “supreme commander of sanitation and rainwater drainage”, criticising what he viewed as political propaganda and the government’s failure to address worsening infrastructure and public services. Prosecutors charged him under provisions criminalising harm caused through communication networks and online expression. On 19 February 2026, a Tunisian court sentenced Saidani to eight months in prison. Human rights organisations, opposition figures and fellow parliamentarians condemned the conviction as another example of the authorities intensifying crackdown on freedom of expression and political dissent under President Kais Saied. Critics stressed that the prosecution demonstrated the increasingly broad use of telecommunications and cybercrime legislation to punish peaceful criticism of state officials and suppress democratic debate. Fellow MP Bilel Mechri denounced the arrest as an attack on parliamentary independence and questioned how elected representatives could exercise oversight of the executive branch if criticism of the president resulted in imprisonment. Ahmed Saidani’s case also attracted particular attention because he had previously supported measures adopted after 25 July 2021, illustrating what many observers described as the expansion of repression beyond traditional opposition circles to include former allies and supporters of the president.