The Tunisian diplomacy is seeking to intensify its contacts with the Greek side “within the framework of strengthening security and judicial coordination,” to receive the prosecuted businessman Slim Riahi, according to a phone call between Minister of Foreign Affairs Othman Al-Jarandi and his Greek counterpart on Wednesday August 25, 2021.
The advisor to the President of the Republic, Walid Al-Hajjam, had confirmed to Al-Wataniya Channel One news that Tunisia was seeking to extradite Riahi by submitting an official request to the Greek authorities, so is it possible legally and politically to extradite him?
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In this context, the international law researcher and lawyer, Hazem Kasuri, told JDD Tunisie, today, Thursday, August 26, 2021, that the extradition of businessman Slim Riahi is related to the seriousness of the criminal evidence presented by Tunisia and the language of communication it adopts in the face of the Greek judge.
He added that the Tunisian side proved through several files its inability to prepare the files, which caused the failure of the process of recovering the looted funds or handing over people wanted to justice, explaining that the issue is not related to documents and legal evidence only, considering that the extradition decisions are also political and governed by relations between countries in accordance with the principle of national interest. If Greece has a geopolitical interest in helping Tunisia, the political official will indicate the decision to extradite Slim Riahi, according to him.
Al-Kasuri said that Riahi can provide the Greek judiciary with evidence because he is being pursued in Tunisia because of his political activity or his positions and is protected by an asylum request, arguing that the situation is unstable in Tunisia and that the conditions for a fair trial are not met, and that he is subject to abuse, similar to what the former president’s son-in-law did. Zine El Abidine Ben Ali, Belhassan Trabelsi, before the French judiciary.
On the other hand, our interlocutor explained that after the arrest of Slim Riahi on the implementation of an international summons, Tunisia is required to provide a detailed explanation of the crimes he committed, provided that the indictment chamber or its equivalent in Greece consider if these crimes are in accordance with Greek law and have a legal basis criminalizing them, otherwise it will be an operation Delivery is flimsy, ie not possible.
In a related context, the professor specialized in international law, Ali Al-Khalidi, confirmed to “JDD Tunisie” that Riahi can be extradited to Tunisia under the cooperation agreement between the two countries.
He added that the Tunisian judiciary issued a prison sentence against Riahi after going through all the phases of litigation and obtaining his right to assign lawyers to defend him, and therefore he cannot talk about the absence of the right to a fair trial in his country, as he put it.
Who is Slim Riahi?
A businessman surrounded by suspicions of financial corruption and money laundering, entered politics after his return to Tunisia after the 2011 revolution, coming from Libya, to establish the Free Patriotic Union Party, participate in the legislative elections and obtain a single seat in the National Constituent Assembly.
His party participated in the legislative and presidential elections in 2014, obtaining 16 seats in the Legislative Council, and was able to participate in the government before merging with the Nidaa Tounes party in 2018 to become the party’s secretary general after his alliance with the son of the late President Hafez Caid Essebsi in their struggle against the former prime minister and the head of Tahya Tounes party, which split from Nidaa Youssef Chahed, to resign again in 2019.
In the same year, he founded a new party called the New Homeland Movement, but he failed in the 2019 elections, to obtain a seat after his candidacy for the French constituency.
In June 2017, the Public Prosecution announced that the investigative judge at the Economic and Financial Judicial Pole had taken a decision to freeze the assets and properties of Slim Riahi.
Rifi-JDD
