A Tunisian court on Wednesday turned down an appeal to release jailed media mogul Nabil Karoui, who reached a runoff in Tunisia’s presidential polls along with academic Kais Saied, reported BBC. Karoui finished second behind Saied in the first round of voting.
The 56-year-old media magnate was arrested on money laundering and tax evasion charges. which he denies. He has been in pretrial detention since August 23.
The electoral commission confirmed Karoui made it to the presidential runoff along with law professor Kais Saied following Sunday’s first-round vote. Saied got the majority percentage of votes at 18.4%, while Karoui followed in second place with 15.6% of the vote. The moderate Islamist Ennahda candidate Abdelfattah Mourou came in third with 12.9% of the vote.
The judge refused to rule on whether or not he would be released as he said the matter was not in his jurisdiction.
“The judge has refused to give a ruling, saying it was not in his jurisdiction,” lawyer Kamel Ben Messoud said on Wednesday, after requesting his release the previous day.
Messoud said his client would challenge the court’s decision.
It was the third time a judge had said the matter was beyond his jurisdiction. The court of appeals refused to pass judgment on September 3, as did the court of cassation on September 13.
According to ISIE, Karoui remains eligible to run despite his imprisonment, as long as any conviction does not also specifically deprive him of his civil rights.
The second round of voting will take place on October 6, the same day as legislative elections, or on October 13, the electoral commission said.
European Union observers said the first round has been transparent, but, it called for the candidates to have the same opportunities to campaign, in an apparent allusion to Karoui.
