“There will be no reconciliation with those who plundered the Tunisian people’s money unless they pay or face prosecution,” said President Kais Saied during a visit to the headquarters of the National Commission for Criminal Reconciliation in Tunis on Friday.
Kais Saied called on all those named in the report of the “National Commission of Inquiry on Corruption and Bribery” to return the money looted from the Tunisian people, based on the 2011 estimate with a 10 per cent increase and calculating annual inflation rates.
The President of the Republic accused some of those suspected of plundering the people’s money of procrastination and called for a return to the courts and additional examination. He stressed that the Tunisian people «are not ready for reconciliation with anyone who wants to hide behind the labyrinth of procedures.»
In this regard, the Head of State announced that the reconciliation procedures with them have been suspended until the payment of the sums included in the report of the “National Commission of Inquiry on Bribery and Corruption” headed by the late Abdelfattah Omar.
There will be no discussion with them before the money looted from the people is paid.
The President of the Republic added that in 2011 a businessman had expressed his willingness to pay a sum of 3,000 billion dinars when he was under pressure from the Tunisian street, but today he is negotiating with the committee after having been in the arms of power for ten years.
The President of the Republic considered that the court should apply the previous procedure and that reconciliation could only be accepted on the basis of what was estimated in 2011, referring to the report of the so-called anti-corruption committee headed by the late Abdelfattah Omar.
He said that those who deliberately emptied the files of those involved in the plundering of the Tunisian people’s funds over the past 12 years must bear their responsibility.
The President called on the authorities to cooperate with the Criminal Reconciliation Commission until these funds are recovered.
In a related context, the President of the Republic urged the Financial Analysis Committee to play its part in the investigation of illegal transfers that have benefited certain individuals.
It should be noted that the members of the National Criminal Reconciliation Commission were appointed in November 2022 for a six-month period, renewable once. The Commission was tasked with returning the looted people’s funds, which the President of the Republic estimated at 13.5 billion dinars.
Shortly before the end of the six-month period, the President of the Republic issued a presidential decree renewing the membership of the members of the Penal Reconciliation Commission for a six-month period starting on May 11, 2023.
Source: Agence Tunis Afrique Presse