By RFIPosted 19-09-2019Modified 19-09-2019 at 01:02

The businessman Nabil Karoui, who will face Kaïs Saied in the second round of the presidential election, follows the election campaign from his cell. This Wednesday, September 18, a new application for release was rejected.

The judge in charge of the case refused to rule on his request for release. This is the third court to declare itself incompetent. The court of appeal had already refused to rule on his case on 3 September, as was the court of cassation ten days later.

Pursued for money laundering and tax evasion, Nabil Karoui will spend another night in jail , the 28th since his arrest on 23 August. An unprecedented situation that prevents the candidate from campaigning.

In an interview with the French weekly Le Point, the media mogul judges his incarceration illegal. He accuses Prime Minister Youssef Chahed and his Islamist allies of having arrested him and he adds: " These elections would become a real democratic masquerade if I was not released ."

Despite this new setback, his family do not intend to give up. Mr. Kamel Ben Messaoud, one of his lawyers, told AFP that he was going to appeal the decision made Wednesday night.

As for his spokesman Abdelaziz Belkhodja, he announced Tuesday afternoon his intention to hit hard if his candidate was not released. Camp Karoui could thus be tempted to request the invalidation of the elections for unequal treatment among the candidates.

The founder of the private television channel Nessma was arrested on August 23, ten days before the start of the campaign and won 15.5% of the vote in the first round .

It should come out, because we know it's a political issue, everyone knows it. And they say the magistrates are free, but that's not true. He had to go out even before the results.

A second round with a candidate in prison: a ubiquitous situation for Tunisians

19-09-2019 - By Michel Picard

    On the same subject

    Tunisian presidential election: the unknown postponement of votes in the second round

    Presidential elections in Tunisia: Will Nabil Karoui pass the second round in prison?

    Presidential election in Tunisia: Kaïs Saïed and Nabil Karoui in the second round

    comments