Tunisia: defence team denies that association received funds from abroad

The legal defence team of the Namaa Tunisia Association denied yesterday that it has received funds from abroad, Anadolu has reported. The charges, said lawyers, are “politicised”.

“The purpose of filing a complaint against the association is for political goals by the coup authority,” lawyer Mokhtar Jamai told a press conference in Tunis. “Namaa Tunisia Association is a developmental association, not a charity as some describe it. It aims to support the economic and financial sector in the country.”

He stressed that the association is committed to financial transparency. “It has accounts, fiscal statements and periodic financial reports in its dealings with the presidency of the government and the Official Gazette, and all its activities are declared.” The Tunisian authorities, he added, are taking advantage of the circumstances that the country is experiencing to file this complaint against the association.

On 28 June the spokeswoman of Tunisia’s Judicial Counter-Terrorism body, Hanan Kadass, announced that there was strong suspicion relating to money laundering by the Namaa Tunisia Association, and that it had received 20 million Tunisian dinars [$6.5 million] between 2011 and 2021 from overseas. Jamai challenged the public prosecution to prove this allegation.

READ: We reject the proposed constitution and call for a boycott of its referendum

Another member of the defence team, Aisha Bin Salha, confirmed that the association does not grant loans or funds, contrary to the trumped-up charges brought against it. “It has not received a single penny from abroad,” she insisted. “The former prime minister and former leader of Ennahda movement, Hamadi Jebali, has no relation with the association. He was not a founding member of the association; his name has been included in the context of politicising the case.” The Tunisian authorities detained Jebali in connection with the same case, but released him on 27 June.

At the time of going to press, the Tunisian authorities had not issued any comment regarding the lawyers’ statements. However, on 24 June, Interior Ministry spokeswoman Fadela Al-Khelaifi said that three people had been arrested on charges of money laundering after the ministry received information that the association had received funds from abroad.

Tunisia president Kais Saied dissolves top judicial council – Cartoon [Sabaaneh/Middle East Monitor]