Tunisia hands Nabil Karoui 6-month jail term in absentia

Supporters of presidential candidate Nabil Karoui carry placards with his image and slogans in his favour as they rally in front of the tribunal in the Tunisian capital Tunis asking for his release from prison on September 3, 2019. – [Yassine Gaidi – Anadolu Agency]

The Tunisian judiciary handed the head of the Heart of Tunisia Party, Nabil Karoui, and his brother Ghazi Karoui, six-month jail terms in absentia on charges of secretly crossing into Algeria.

The brothers chose Europe as their voluntary exile after being charged with corruption-related cases.

On Thursday, the official spokesman of the Kasserine Court of First Instance and assistant of the Public Prosecutor, Riad Al-Nawawi, said in statements to Mosaique FM radio that “the district court in Thala issued a six-month prison sentence with immediate enforcement against the Karoui brothers.”

In August 2021, the brothers crossed the Tunisian border and entered Algeria where they were arrested before being released in October of the same year. They then headed to Europe.

Mosaique FM confirmed that someone was detained in Kasserine Governorate at the end of August 2021 on suspicion of smuggling the brothers.

Nabil Karoui is a businessman who competed against President Kais Saied in the second round of the Tunisian presidential elections in 2019, he was also the head of the Heart of Tunisia Party.

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