Tunisia: 6 placed under house arrest for money laundering

Six individuals, including two businessmen, have been placed under house arrest for money laundering and other crimes in Tunisia, after they were arrested and placed in police custody on Wednesday, according to the spokesman of the Tunis Court of First Instance.

According to Sofiene Selliti, the businessmen were Mohamed Louati and Jawher Dammak and the investigating judge on Tuesday also issued an arrest warrant against businessman Ali Ben Jazia, who is the brother-in-law of the Minister of Justice, Ghazi Jribi.  Ben Jazia was prosecuted for falsifying contracts related to inheritance issues, according to Selliti, he is also involved in three cases being heard at the Court of Ben Arous.

His arrest has no connection with the Judicial and Financial Centre or the war on corruption, Selliti concluded.

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According to some media sources in Tunisia, the investigating judge of the Judicial and Financial Centre issued a warrant against Ben Jazia for involvement in cases of corruption, falsification and forgery where he “boasted of his relationship with the Minister of Justice and his relations with influential politicians to obtain benefits”.

Tunisia has been cracking down on corruption in recent years as a bid to remove itself from the country’s long history of corruption under the regime of long-standing leader Zine El Abidine Ben Ali who was ousted from power in 2011.

Prime Minister Youssef Chahed has made it his government’s top priority to eradicate corruption from official circles as the country attempts to transition into a young democracy.