Details of the Case of the Head of the Heart of Tunisia Party, Nabil Karoui

The decision to release the head of the Heart of Tunisia party, Nabil Karoui, left many criticisms and questions about the course of this case, especially the current political situation, which demonstrated the interference of many parties in this incident.
What is the course of this case?
The decision to release Nabil Karoui came on Wednesday, February 24, 2021, after securing a sum of 10 million dinars, to continue the investigation of his case while he is in a state of release, but the attorney general of the Court of Appeal in Tunisia appealed this decision according to the statements of the official spokesman for the Court of First Instance Mohsen al-Daly.
According to al-Dali, the prosecutor’s appeal does not stop the implementation of the investigative judge’s decision, meaning that the decision to release al-Karoui on bail remains valid until the accusation circuit decides either to uphold the decision or to deny it.
For his part, the spokesperson for the Heart of Tunisia party, Mohamed Sadiq Jabnoun, explained that the public prosecutor’s appeal to the release decision is a normal matter and does not affect the course of the case, reiterating his confidence in the independence of the judiciary in light of their certainty of the party leader’s innocence.
Al-Karoui was previously imprisoned in 2019 over the same case, and then he was released the day after the presidential election campaign in October 2019 to continue the second round of the campaign.

Phases of the “money laundering suspicion” file
Karoui is being tried in the case of tax evasion and money laundering that was brought against him by the “I Watch” organization in 2016, after the investigating judge of the Financial Judicial Pole issued on December 24, 2020, an arrest warrant for the head of the Heart of Tunisia Party, Nabil Karoui, on suspicion of financial corruption, days after The Minister of Environment was arrested on charges of corruption as well.
The “I Watch” organization states that at the end of August 2016 it filed a complaint with the Tunis Court of First Instance against the Karoui brothers and all those disclosed by the research. After that, the investigating judge undertook the economic and financial pole of the file and issued a number of decisions, including a travel ban on the Karoui brothers, freezing their accounts and suspension Mr. Nabil Al-Karoui, on two occasions, authorizing the Office of the Commission to conduct tests, and finally accepting the organization’s request to fulfill the personal right, which means enabling the organization to view the investigation file, tests and hearings while maintaining the confidentiality of the investigation.
Al-Karoui Defense Authority considers his trial “political”
During a symposium held by the Defense Committee of the Head of the Heart of Tunisia Party on February 4, 2021, to review the developments of Karoui’s case, the spokesman for the defense committee, Mondher Belhaj, said: “Nabil Karoui is being subjected to popular trials on social media platforms, and political parties stand behind them with a score to settle.”
The defense committee of Nabil Karoui also confirmed that the deposit card issued by the investigating judge against their client was based on a second test report that had been conducted by experts in the case, and they were the same ones who carried out the first test and considered that what was mentioned in the report was “flawless”, and at the time they demanded the necessity of releasing their client.
After taking a discussion between what was stated in the experts’ report and the defense committee of Nabil Karoui, the investigating judge authorized the experts to return the report, according to what was reported by the defense.
The legal procedures in this case are unusual
Lawyer Chokri Azouz explained that there is a procedural error represented in the behavior that the investigating judge followed with Nabil Al-Karoui from the beginning, which is considered from the point of view of the criminal procedures strange, because the file also includes Ghazi Al-Karoui along with Nabil Al-Karoui, and they were previously heard together.
Today, however, Ghazi Karoui is a deputy in the Assembly of the Representatives of the People who enjoys legal immunity, meaning that he may not be followed in any way, pursuant to Article 86 of the Constitution.
When there is a file in which there are two cases, a defendant who enjoys immunity, and a defendant who does not enjoy immunity, in this case the accused who does not enjoy immunity waits until the immunity of the other accused is lifted, because it is not permissible to dismantle the file except if the law permits that.
Article 104 bis of the Code of Criminal Procedures stipulated the cases in which the file could be dismantled, but it did not stipulate the case in which two defendants are in different positions (one accused enjoys immunity and the other does not enjoy it), and the investigating judge was supposed to wait until the legal impediment ends (Ghazi al-Karoui’s immunity), then the file is decided in the presence of both parties.
What does chapter 104 say?
Article 104 bis “which was added by Law No. 75 of 2008 dated December 11, 2008” says that, except for cases in which it is imperative to join the procedures to each other in application of Article 131 of this code and 55 of the penal code, the investigating judge may, when the case is submitted for adjudication in relation to the accused who are charged with acts deemed by the law to be a violation or misdemeanor, dismantle the file and refer it to the public prosecutor to submit his written requests regarding him without stopping to terminate his work in relation to others who are accused of acts that the law considers a felony.
In addition, the investigating judge may, even if he undertakes acts that the law considers a crime for all the accused, may dismantle the file with the aim of expediting the consideration of the detainees without stopping to finish his work for others for considerations related to the necessities of the search, and once the public prosecutor submits his requests the Investigating Judge shall issue an independent decision regarding all the individual accused of prosecution, and he shall remain committed to researching the remaining accused until an independent decision is issued in their regard.
It is worth noting that Nabil Karoui will not be actually released, except after securing the abovementioned sum of money, so that the investigation of his case will continue while he is in a state of release.