Against the background of the issue of importing waste from Italy
12 high-ranking officials arrested in Tunisia
Hisham El-Mechichi sacked the Minister of Environment over the case
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Yesterday, a Tunisian judicial source stated that the former Minister of the Environment in the government of Hisham El Mechichi was arrested, the day after his dismissal, in addition to a number of officials in the ministry and customs, in the context of the case of importing household waste from Italy.
The spokesman for the first instance court in Sousse (East) in charge of the case, Jaber Al-Ghunaimi, explained that in total 12 people were arrested, including Mustafa Laroui, who was removed from his position as Minister of the Environment the day before yesterday, and the director of the National Agency for Waste Management.
The director of the Office of the Ministry of the Environment, other directors of the National Agency for Environmental Management and the National Agency for the Protection of the Ocean, customs officials, and the owner of a private chemical laboratory were also arrested.
The judicial spokesman indicated that the owner of the Tunisian company "Surplast" is also wanted, and "he is on the run since the case was opened."
At the end of July, Tunisian customs seized dozens of containers containing household waste coming from Italy, which raised suspicions of corruption, especially as Tunisian law prohibits the import of this type of "dangerous" waste.
The company, "Sorblast", carried out the supply process, only weeks after its reactivation of its activity after a long interruption, and it has a license that enables it to recycle and export industrial plastic waste.
In an indication of the complexity of the case, Jaber Al-Ghunaimi added that 12 other people were summoned to appear before the prosecution, on Monday, while they were kept in a state of release, including the former Minister of the Environment Chokri Belhassen, officials in the Ministry and customs, in addition to the Tunisian consul in Naples (southern Italy). Bayat bin Abdul-Baqi.
• Customs booked dozens of containers at the end of July.
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