He has promised to “cleanse” the country and free it from the tentacles of the octopus that has held him hostage for the past decade, and he seems determined to keep his promises, even if the way sometimes leaves a lot to be desired.
A Necessary Evil
The arrest of Nabil Karoui and his brother Ghazi in Algeria, hidden in an apartment in Tbessa, once again raises the issue of travel ban decisions taken by the Interior Ministry.
While voices are rising to condemn this decision which remains, for them, superfluous and vague and without any real legal basis, the flight of the Karoui brothers across the Tunisian-Algerian borders intervenes to relaunch the debate on the involvement of a large number of politicians and businessmen in facts related to corruption, embezzlement and other numerous slippages.
We have often heard Nabil Karoui deny any involvement in these cases of economic and political corruption and proclaim his innocence to go directly to accuse his opponents of wanting him harm. How to interpret, therefore, the information of his illegal flight to Algeria, where he already has accounts to settle with the justice of this neighboring country, in the company of his brother and some members of his family?
And yet they Continue to Denounce
How are we going to talk about the presumption of innocence for such politicians who have become specialists in lies, deceit and fabrications like a Nabil Karoui who always appears in the habit of a victim constantly? targeted by the power in place.
Only a few days ago, Oussama Khelifi, the number two of the Qalb Tounès party, currently in France since July 15 to … prepare the start of the school year for his children, claimed to be in direct and daily contact with the party leader Nabil Karoui then that the latter was in hiding after illegally crossing borders.
These are the people who continue to condemn Kaïs Saïed’s use of a travel ban or house arrest when it is increasingly obvious that those who feel guilty and those who are afraid of seeing the justice to deal with their cases try by all means to denounce these procedures decided in an exceptional context, to claim to be “clean” while seeking to leave the country by all means.
An Indisputable Right, but …
And here, we can remember the words of the Nahdhaoui leader Abdellatif Mekki who denounced the recourse of politicians and businessmen to flee the country if they consider themselves clean and innocent. He aims by his declaration Nabil Karoui, freshly arrested in Algeria and we want to know what his opinion would be when some Nahdhaoui leaders will find themselves forced to account as promised by the President of the Republic who awaits all these beautiful people at the turn.
Of course, the right to travel is indisputable, but in an exceptional situation like that of our country, other security and judicial priorities must take precedence for the good of the country and to prevent those who have committed crimes from evading and disappearing from the country. circulation.
And it is not only a question of the Karoui brothers because the “pretenders” to the journey to flee justice are much more numerous and the authority in place must not skimp on the means to prevent these fugitives on borrowed time from going to the end. of their intentions.
And that politicians, lawyers and defenders of the corrupt keep quiet to let justice do its job. The citizens who came out to cheer Kaïs Saïed’s initiative on the evening of July 25, 2021 will not forgive the President of the Republic for any negligence or hesitation in this corruption file which has brought the country to its knees.
A Necessary Work of Undermining
Thus, for the moment, we can only encourage the parties concerned to do this work of undermining with all the guarantees not to let any suspect leave the country.
Admittedly, it is not easy to digest an infringement of the right of all citizens to travel and it was Kaïs Saïed himself who said it, but this is an exceptional period permitted by the Constitution, citizens do not can only adhere to this practice, provided that it is truly exceptional, that it is limited in time and that it is practiced in total transparency.
The same is true for other measures that touch on the principles of freedom, but as is the case with the right to travel, exceptions, in exceptional condition are tolerable provided these procedures do not last forever.
This case of the Karoui brothers has confirmed the state of affairs of a rotten political class. The hour of accounts has come and we must let justice play its role properly in order to be able to move, as soon as possible, to the next stages, which will require a lot of work in a more advantageous context in order to be able to meet the challenges that lie ahead.
Adapted from Kamel Zaiem’s Article
Rifi-JDD
