Elected in 2018 under the banner of Nidaa Tounes, in prison since June 2024, Amel Limam is referred to the criminal chamber specializing in financial corruption cases. The investigation, born in the wake of the Maher Chaâbane case, reveals a tangle of interests between local power, administrative privileges and the private empire of a sulphurous magnate.
The former mayor of La Goulette, Amel Limam, was indicted last week and referred to the criminal chamber specializing in financial corruption cases.
This decision by the Tunis Court of Appeal closes several months of investigations carried out by the Economic and Financial Judicial Unit into suspicions of administrative irregularities and favoritism for the benefit of businessman Maher Chaâbane.
The facts date back to June 2024, when the Gorjani judicial police, acting under mandate from the prosecution, placed Amel Limam in police custody on suspicion of abuse of office. His detention was extended, before a committal warrant was issued on June 8 by the investigating judge of the court of first instance of Tunis.
The accusations against the former elected official are serious: abuse of office, passive corruption, acceptance of donations and undue advantages, all to the detriment of public administration. These facts are part of a vast affair involving La Goulette and Le Kram, two adjoining municipalities now under scrutiny for their management practices.
Multiple and specific charges
The indictment, confirmed at the end of last week by the indictment chamber of the Tunis Court of Appeal, cites several articles of the Tunisian Penal Code, in particular article 96 which punishes the abuse of office by a public official to obtain an undue advantage or cause harm to the administration.
Articles 83 and 87bis are also cited in the Limam case. They repress the acceptance of gifts, promises or advantages to carry out acts contrary to the law or to grant unjustified privileges to third parties.
According to the file sent to the court, Amel Limam would have used his municipal prerogatives to grant irregular administrative facilities to economic actors close to power, in particular the businessman Maher Chaâbane, a central figure in this investigation.
La Goulette, nerve center of an economic empire
The name of Maher Chaâbane, now detained for corruption, money laundering and falsification of documents, comes up at every stage of the procedure.
His empire extends into several Tunisian cities. In Berges du Lac 2, an area administratively attached to the municipality of La Goulette, he owns several large-scale projects: the Avani hotel, the Myron clinic and especially the company which operates the Berges du Lac 2 pound, a public service allocated under the authority of Amel Limam.
This particularly lucrative market is today at the heart of suspicion: investigations reveal non-compliant allocation conditions and repeated abuses which have provoked dozens of complaints from citizens.
A case at the crossroads of politics and finance
The story of Amel Limam and his relations with Maher Chaâbane cannot be dissociated from his political career. Elected in July 2018 on the lists of the Nidaa Tounes party, at the time she symbolized the municipal conquest of a then dominant party.
However, Maher Chaâbane was also close to Nidaa Tounes, financially supporting several of its regional figures and running himself, without success, under its colors in the 2019 legislative elections.
The collusion between the political sphere and the business world is evident in the file: a chain of converging interests, where municipal favors served the ambitions of an empire with a sulphurous reputation.
Between La Goulette and Berges du Lac, the border is indeed thin, especially when public markets become private affairs.
From investigation to the criminal chamber
After fourteen months of investigation and confrontations, the investigating judge transmitted the file to the indictment chamber. In the meantime, he has refused all requests for provisional release from Ms. Limam, but also those from Mr. Chaâbane. After examining the file, the chamber validated the judge’s work and decided at the end of last week to send it to the criminal chamber specializing in financial corruption cases.
This passage marks a decisive step: the case now leaves the field of investigation to enter that of the judgment on the merits. The trial is expected to take place in the coming weeks and the judge is expected to be the same judge who presided over State Conspiracy Trials 1 and 2.
The charges, retained by the public prosecutor and subsequently confirmed by the investigating judge and the indictment chamber, are based on material evidence and administrative exchanges involving several municipal agents and financial transfers deemed suspicious.
The lawyers of Ms. Limam and Mr. Chaâbane chose to maintain silence, avoiding any media coverage of the case. This is also why few details have leaked from the file and we do not know, to this day, what amounts, benefits and interest Amel Limam would have received from Maher Chaâbane.
An emblematic affair
The Amel Limam affair illustrates the flaws in the Tunisian municipal system, where the proximity between local authorities and economic interests has often blurred the boundary between public service and service of private interests.
His referral to justice marks the desire of the Economic and Financial Center to pursue those responsible at the highest level, regardless of their party or network of influence.
This trial will finally say whether municipal corruption is the result of isolated acts… or of a well-oiled system that affects several municipalities.
Maya Bouallégui
