Tunisian electoral commission wants jailed candidate to talk

Tunisia’s electoral commission is calling for the country’s jailed presidential candidate to be allowed televised interviews so he can communicate with voters before the October 13 election.

Nabil Karoui, a media mogul, has been jailed since August on corruption charges.

Despite that and no political experience, he advanced to the second round in the election along with a relatively unknown law professor, Kais Said.

The head of the electoral commission, Nabil Bafoun, on Wednesday said he was in contact with national judicial officials as well as the judge in Karoui’s case, who has ruled against freeing the candidate.

He says he is reminding them that both presidential hopefuls deserve “equal opportunities” for a democratic election.

Tunisia ousted its longtime leader in the 2011 Arab Spring protests.