The controversial businessman and former unsuccessful 2019 presidential candidate in Tunisia, Nabil Karoui, was arrested on Thursday, December 24, following a committal warrant issued against him by the Tunisian judicial financial center.
Prosecuted since 2017 for money laundering and tax evasion, Nabil Karoui had already been imprisoned in August 2019 and then released in October of the same year, shortly before the second round of the ballot, won by his rival Kais Saied.
"An investigating judge at the financial judicial pole has issued a warrant of committal against Nabil Karoui," the spokesman for this pole Mohsen Dali, also deputy for the general prosecutor at the Tunis court of first instance, told AFP.
Nabil Karoui was arrested Thursday and is currently in prison for the same case as when he was arrested in 2019, according to Mohsen Dali.
Media mogul
Founder of the main Tunisian private channel Nessma TV, Nabil Karoui had made the fight against poverty his hobbyhorse during the electoral campaign in 2019.
He built a reputation for himself by distributing household appliances and miscellaneous goods across the country under the watchful eye of Nessma's cameras.
Nabil Karoui is also the founder of Qalb Tounes, the party that came second in the legislative elections of October 2019 by winning 38 seats out of 217 in Parliament.
This formation currently occupies 30 seats after several resignations.
Ally with the Islamist-inspired Ennhadha party, the leading force in parliament with 54 seats, Nabil Karoui is often accused of corruption by politicians.
Multiple proceedings have been opened in recent years against this former close to power, or against his Nessma TV channel, which broadcasts without a license.
With AFP
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