Senior Tunisian officials accused of corruption

The judiciary in Tunisia look set to investigate 12 senior government officials suspected of involvement in “financial corruption”, the General Prosecutor’s office announced on Wednesday. A spokesman for the prosecutor said that the officials are spread across a number of ministries and include the man who served as state attorney between 2011 and 2012.

Sufian Al-Sulaiti added that the investigation arose after complaints were made about financial corruption and the charges are known to include “embezzlement of public funds”. A lawsuit was filed in December against at least two of the accused.

According to the World Bank, corruption became widespread in Tunisia after the 2011 revolution that overthrew former President Zine El Abidine Ben Ali and his regime.

Tunisia is now ranked 75th on the corruption list compiled by Transparency International, down from 59th in 2010.