On Monday, August 9, 2021, the Public Prosecution of the Economic and Financial Judicial Pole of the Court of First Instance in Tunis issued a decision banning travel to 12 suspects in cases related to financial and administrative corruption, in the extraction and transfer of phosphates, according to the spokesperson for the Financial Judicial Pole at the Court of Tunis. , Mohsen Dali, who told the JDD Tunisie newspaper that the Public Prosecution decided to ban travel to 12 officials, including a former minister, in a case related to suspicions of financial and administrative corruption and the exploitation of influence in the extraction and transfer of phosphates.
Among these suspects are the former Minister Salim Feriani, the former Minister of Industry and Small and Medium Enterprises, the former CEO of the Gafsa Phosphate Company, a financial controller at the Ministry of Finance, two directors of the Gafsa Phosphate Company, agents of private handling companies, in addition to the Frozen MP Lotfi Ali.
Ali Al-Arid: Banning politicians and officials from traveling without a court ruling is an “attack on their rights”
In a post on his Facebook page, Ennahda leader Ali Al-Arayedh confirmed that politicians, businessmen and officials in institutions travel without a court ruling or legal basis, unfairness to citizens and a violation of their rights, according to the text of the post.
There are reports of politicians, businessmen and officials in financial or economic institutions being prevented from traveling outside Tunisia without any judicial ruling, legal basis, or even justification.
This is an injustice to citizens and a violation of their rights, with catastrophic effects on economic and financial transactions and the credibility of Tunisian institutions.
In this context, the spokesman for the financial judicial pole, Mohsen Al-Dali, explained, on Friday, August 6, 2021, that travel ban decisions will be announced to state officials, specifically officials in the previous government, indicating that they are in the process of collecting information regarding these decisions.
With regard to placing officials under house arrest, Al-Dali stated that this issue is within the scope of the Minister of the Interior.
It is noteworthy that since July 25, 2021, several decisions have been issued related to the imposition of house arrest and the travel ban on a significant number of state officials and members of the Assembly of the Representatives of the People, after the President of the Republic, Qais Saeed Hisham Al-Mashishi, was relieved of his duties, freezing all the competencies of Parliament and lifting the immunity of its members.
On Friday, the investigative judge at the Financial Judicial Pole issued a decision to ban travel to the Director General of the National Tobacco Agency, who was a former chief of staff of the Ministry of Industry and Energy.
The decision to ban travel came as a result of an investigative case related to suspected financial corruption in the energy sector.
Rifi-JDD
