Tunisia: accused of carrying out its activities illegally, the Nessma TV channel is closed

Published on : 10/28/2021 – 00:57

In Tunisia, Nessma TV no longer broadcasts. The high Tunisian audiovisual authority (Haica) announced, Wednesday, October 27, the closure of the private television channel founded by businessman Nabil Karoui, former rival of President Kaïs Saïed during the presidential election of end of 2019.

La Haica said in a press release that it had seized “broadcasting equipment” from Nessma TV, which broadcasts its programs without a license. “Despite () multiple correspondence and meetings, this channel continued to operate illegally,” added the Haica.

The body also explained this closure by “suspicions of financial and administrative corruption” and by the supervision of this channel by the leader of a political party, “which influenced the content of its programs”, according to Haica.

The chain’s equipment had already been seized in April 2019 after a decision by the Haica for the same reasons.

Nabil Karoui released

Behind this private channel, is Nabil Karoui, presidential candidate in 2019, the leader of the Qalb Tounes party, allied to the Islamist-inspired movement Ennahda, bête noire of President Kaïs Saïed.

He was arrested in early September in Algeria with his brother, Ghazi Karoui. The two men had notably been detained for “illegal entry” into the territory. After President Kaïs Saïed’s coup on July 25, several local media had referred to a “flight” of Nabil Karoui abroad before his arrest in Algeria.

According to Algerian and Tunisian media, Nabil Karoui and his brother were released Tuesday, at the request of their lawyers.

Since 2017, Nabil Karoui has been prosecuted by the Tunisian justice for a case of money laundering and tax evasion.

Arrested in 2019, he had spent more than a month in prison in the middle of the electoral campaign, which his supporters had denounced as an instrumentalisation of justice. He was again remanded in custody from December 2020 to June 2021.

Nabil Karoui, whose presidential program focused on anti-Islamism and the fight against poverty, was largely defeated by Kaïs Saïed in the 2019 presidential election.

With AFP