Tunisia freezes assets of opposition leader

A Tunisian court on Wednesday ordered the assets and property of the head of the opposition Free Patriotic Union, Salim Al-Riyahi, be frozen on suspicion of money laundering.

A spokesman for the Public Prosecutor’s Office of the Tunis Court of First Instance, Sufian Al-Sulaiti, said the Tunisian Financial and Economic Judiciary Court decided to freeze the financial assets and properties of Al-Riyahi.

The decision comes into effect immediately, he explained.

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Last month, the Tunisian government launched an anti-corruption campaign in which businessmen and suspected smugglers were arrested or placed under house arrest.

Al-Riyahi was quick to respond speaking to Tunisia’s Nessma TV saying that he was being subjected to political blackmail and that he was targeted by the Tunisian government, which he accused of distorting his image describing the war on corruption as a “selective game”.

He denied taking billions of funds from the family of former Libyan dictator Muammar Gaddafi’s family after he was ousted from power.