The criminal chamber specializing in financial corruption cases of the Tunis Court of First Instance rejected, Friday November 21, 2025, the requests for release presented by the leader of Ennahdha and former Minister of Transport, Abdelkarim Harouni, the businessman Mohamed Frikha, as well as two former executives of a national oil company. The trial was adjourned until December.
On Thursday, the two men appeared in detention, alongside two former executives of the national oil company who were also incarcerated. Two other former officials, prosecuted in the same case, appeared at liberty. The prosecution concerns suspicions of financial and administrative corruption in the context of transactions concluded between a company headed by Mohamed Frikha and the company in question.
Ahead of this hearing, the indictment chamber specializing in financial corruption cases at the Tunis Court of Appeal decided to refer Abdelkarim Harouni, Mohamed Frikha and the two former executives then detained before the criminal chamber, considering that the alleged facts presented elements constituting financial offenses.
According to the same decision, the defendants are notably prosecuted for abuse of office within the meaning of article 96 of the Penal Code. This article punishes the use, by a public official, of his position to provide an undue advantage to himself or a third party, to the detriment of the administration and in violation of the rules in force.
M.B.Z
