Tunisian Police on Friday arrested presidential candidate Nabil Karoui on alleged charges of financial crimes, reported Reuters. The Interior Ministry said the arrest was made after the court ordered Karoui’s detention in a case involving charges of money laundering.
The 56-year-old media magnate and owner of the private channel Nessma TV is one of the main candidates contesting the September election following the death of President Beji Caid Essebsi. Karoui’s party said the arrest was a politically motivated attempt to exclude him from the election race.
Back in July, the court barred Karoui from traveling abroad after weeks of investigation on suspicion of money laundering, shortly after stating his intention to stand in the polls.
Karoui’s political adviser, Osama Khelifi, said the police arrested him while they were on their way back from the city of Beja to Tunis.
“They kidnapped the most prominent candidate in the presidential election so that (Prime Minister Youssef) Chahed can win the election in an open way,” Khelifi added.
Oussama Khlifi, of the media mogul’s Qalb Tounes party, said, “About 15 police cars blocked the road and rushed to Nabil Karoui’s car before armed civilian police asked him to come with them, saying they had instructions to arrest him.”
The media tycoon has previously said he is being targeted by attempts to undermine his growing popularity.
Tunisia is set for holding a presidential election after President Beji Caid Essebsi’s death last month at age 92. Essebsi was the first democratically elected president following the popular uprising in 2011 that ousted dictator Zine El Abidine Ben Ali.
Last week, Tunisia’s electoral commission had announced it had approved 26 candidates and rejected 71 other applicants for next month’s presidential election. The approved applicant’s list includes two women and former President Moncef Marzouki. Tunisian Prime Minister Youssef Chahed and the Islamist-inspired Ennahdha party’s candidate Abdelfattah Mourou are other top candidates in the race.
