Tunisia on Wednesday declared a “war on corruption” after the arrest of three businessmen and a customs officer on suspicion of graft and financing protests in the North African country.
Corruption was widespread under long-time Tunisian president Zine El Abidine Ben Ali, who was ousted in a 2011 uprising, and has remained endemic since.
“In the war on corruption, there’s no choice. It’s either corruption or the state. Either corruption or Tunisia,” Tunisian Prime Minister Youssef Chahed said.
Photo: EPA
“I want to reassure all Tunisians that the government will see this war on corruption through to the end,” he said in his first comments since the arrests started on Tuesday.
A senior official on condition of anonymity earlier told reporters that businessmen Chafik Jarraya, Yassine Chennoufi and Nejib Ben Ismail, along with customs officer Ridha Ayari, were arrested “under the state of emergency” in force in Tunisia since November 2015.
“They are implicated in affairs of corruption and suspected of plotting against state security through incitement and alleged financing of the protest movements in Tataouine and other regions,” he said.
The arrests came after a young man, Anouar Sakrafi, died of injuries suffered on Monday when he was run over by a Tunisian national guard vehicle during clashes with security forces in the southern region of Tataouine, the scene of long-running protests over joblessness.
Security forces fired tear gas as protesters tried to storm the El Kamour oil and gas plant, radio reports said.
Dozens of people were hurt in the clashes, including about 20 security personnel.
However, the Tunisian government said Sakrafi’s killing was accidental.
Protesters have been camped outside the El Kamour pumping plant for about a month, blocking trucks from entering, to demand a share of resources and employment in the sector.
Clashes also erupted between protesters and security forces on Monday in the city of Tataouine, where buildings showed evidence of having been set alight.
Tataouine Governor Mohamed Ali Barhoumi resigned on Wednesday just weeks after being named to the position, saying in a post on Facebook that it was “for strictly personal reasons.”
He was named governor late last month after two senior officials were dismissed following a visit by Chahed to the region. The prime minister was shouted down and forced to leave a heated town hall meeting.
Chahed has vowed to fight corruption since taking office last year, when the head of the national anti-graft body, Chawki Tabib, said the problem had reached “epidemic” proportions.
The latest arrests come after Ben Ali’s nephew, Imed Trabelsi, last week apologized to Tunisians on national television for the rife corruption during his uncle’s regime.
He said how he grew rich thanks to a well-oiled system involving the complicity of customs officers, high officials and ministers.
Tunisians on social media and in the press applauded the arrests, calling for the launch of an anti-graft probe such as Italy’s “Clean Hands” campaign in the 1990s.
However, others said they hoped the arrests were not a “smokescreen” at a time when the authorities faced mounting social unrest.
Youssef Belgacem, from anti-corruption non-governmental organization I-Watch, tentatively welcomed the “surprising” arrests.
“We hope it’s a serious first step in the war against corruption and the corrupt, and not an attempt to appease protests in Tataouine and elsewhere,” he said. “The list of corruption barons is still long.”
“If this is a real change of policy, then Chahed will find nothing but support from the Tunisian people,” political campaigner Jaouhar Ben Mbarek wrote on Twitter.
Tunisia was ranked 75th out of more than 170 countries in last year’s corruption perceptions index published by Transparency International.
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