The Swiss newspaper, Lotan, said that the race against time had begun before Tunisia lost - on Tuesday at midnight - the opportunity to recover 200 million Swiss francs (about 225 million dollars), which was misappropriated by the group of former President Zine El Abidine Ben Ali, noting that there are many voices. Calling the Federal Council to act.
In a joint report between Marc Allguer and Matteo Galtier in Tunis, the newspaper mentioned that the Swiss Federal Council had issued an order to freeze the assets of Ben Ali and 36 of his relatives on January 19, 2011, 5 days after his escape, when they would dispose of 320 million dollars. According to the public association "I".
However, the persons included in the order have the right to recover the bulk of this amount when the administrative freeze ends at midnight on Tuesday, after a legal period of 10 years, noting that part of the funds worth 60 million francs (about 660 million dollars) has been frozen by a court order and will remain safe. It happened, and the Tunisian state has so far recovered 4.27 million.
Lawyer Mounira Ayari, a member of the Democratic Bloc (center-left) and the representative of Tunisians in Switzerland, said, "This is just crumbs." Her party officially submitted a letter to the Federal Assembly on January 11, calling for an extension of the administrative suspension and more assistance in identifying the origins of Bin Ali group.
The official and the elected lawyer, who does not doubt the extension, added that "there is a real mistake on the part of Switzerland because of its lack of transparency in this regard," and that it is seeking to file an appeal to re-freeze the funds, along with new victims of the former regime.
Support for the initiative
On the other side of the Mediterranean, this parliamentary initiative finds support from several sides. Omar El Ezabi, elected from the Green Party in Geneva, insists that "the Tunisian state should not waste a dinar."
He sent - within a group of associations - a letter to the Federal Council, in which he acknowledged that Tunisia “did not follow this file with all due diligence,” and expressed that it was “scandalous” that there was no pressure from the authorities on the banks to not discover only 60 million francs of assets. Illegal".
Legislation
The third axis of these pressures - according to the newspaper - is Representative (from the Greens) Nicolas Walder, who will present a question at the Foreign Policy Committee meeting early next week to the head of the Federal Foreign Affairs Sector, Genevan Ignazio Cassis: Can the Federal Council extend the administrative order or issue a new order?
It will also question him about steps that Byrne has taken over the past 10 years to facilitate the identification of assets.
The parliamentarian asks, "Is our legislation suitable for such complex situations? Is it realistic to be satisfied with ten years of administrative obstruction? Are the penalties imposed on institutions that do not cooperate with the authorities sufficient?"
He pointed out that the consequences of non-cooperation are insufficient, especially "when the funds concerned reach several hundreds of millions of francs."
However, another MP responds that, “It is not possible to say - after 10 years of an administrative ban - that the Tunisian government has been surprised.” The deputy, Le Fodua - who is also a member of the Foreign Policy Committee - said that he does not intend to defend the former regime, explaining, “I understand Absolutely the moral issue, but this procedure must be viewed from a legal perspective, as if the Federal Council prolongs the ban in the absence of a legal basis, the Ben Ali family could sue it and win in the Federal Court, which creates great chaos. "
Upon contacting it, the administration explained that the rapid action of the Federal Council during the revolution, “gave the new Tunisian authorities the necessary time to establish judicial cooperation with Switzerland, and therefore the extension of the administrative blockade is not possible, especially since the Swiss authorities, during the past year, alerted the Tunisian authorities to the imminent end of the freeze. Administrative ".
Is Tunisia late?
The newspaper asked: Why have successive governments in Tunisia waited since 2011 to respond to such a sensitive issue?
Noting that the governments initially tried to persuade these businessmen to return the money on their own, but they kept their networks and influence in the country and abroad, "says Tasnim Tiari, in charge of this case by the non-governmental organization" I Watch ".
The newspaper mentioned that the late President of the Republic, Beji Caid Essebsi, had never hidden his opposition to pursuing money makers during the Ben Ali era, preferring to issue amnesty decisions for them, according to the American think tank Global Finance Integrity.
It seems that the Tunisian government is not happy about the end of the extension, because “most of those affected by the freeze in Switzerland are also being tried in Tunisia,” and a diplomatic source says, “If they are found guilty, we will have a strong argument to ask the countries to return the property. We told our friends - including Switzerland - that they froze. The assets are the day after Ben Ali left to help the new and democratic Tunisia, although 10 years is a long time, and we are definitely late, but this money remains the people's money. We need the support of our partners more. "
The newspaper concluded that the President of the Republic, Qais Saeed, formed a committee last October, concerned with the issue of illegal property abroad, in the context of defending the gains of the revolution, and it seeks to open an office for it in Switzerland, but in the absence of a ruling, members of the Bin group will have Time to transfer their assets to the new host countries.