A Tunis court announced on Wednesday it was launching prosecutions against 19 people, including parliament speaker Rached Ghannouchi and many high profile former ministers and politicians, for alleged crimes related to the 2019 presidential and parliamentary elections.
Several former prime ministers — including Youssef Chahed, Elyès Fakhfakh, and Mehdi Jomaa, a former minister of defence, former president Moncef Marzouki, the president of political party Qalb Tounes, and Nabil Kharoui, who ran against President Kais Saied in 2019 — were also among those whom the court said would be charged with “political advertising, illegal advertising via social media, and violation of electoral silence”.
Mr Saied has long called for those listed in a 2019 report from the Court of Auditors into election fraud to be prosecuted. The report details irregularities ranging from nomination fraud to the receipt of foreign funding to illegal advertising on social media.
Mr Saied is also listed in the report, for both nomination fraud and illegal campaign spending, but is not currently facing charges.
Worker's Party Secretary General Hamma Hammami, who is facing charges, called for the president to “lift his immunity and respond to what appeared in the report”, to which the president retorted “the only sum I spent is 50 dinars ($17), in addition to a few coffees”.
If convicted, the accused will face fines, though Mr Saied has pressed for more serious sentences. The accused may also be barred from running in elections or holding public office in the future.
The case highlights the complicated nature of Tunisia's electoral law, which forbids advertising and demands large lists of physical signatures to secure a nomination. Mr Saied has vowed to change the law before new parliamentary elections next December, though he has yet to give any indication of what the new laws will be.
Tunisians protest on the anniversary of the 2011 uprising
Total eligible population
About 57.5 million people
51.1 million received a jab
6.4 million have not
Where are the unvaccinated?
England 11%
Scotland 9%
Wales 10%
Northern Ireland 14%
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Strait of Hormuz
Fujairah is a crucial hub for fuel storage and is just outside the Strait of Hormuz, a vital shipping route linking Middle East oil producers to markets in Asia, Europe, North America and beyond.
The strait is 33 km wide at its narrowest point, but the shipping lane is just three km wide in either direction. Almost a fifth of oil consumed across the world passes through the strait.
Iran has repeatedly threatened to close the strait, a move that would risk inviting geopolitical and economic turmoil.
Last month, Iran issued a new warning that it would block the strait, if it was prevented from using the waterway following a US decision to end exemptions from sanctions for major Iranian oil importers.
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
The Freedom Artist
By Ben Okri (Head of Zeus)
The biog
Place of birth: Kalba
Family: Mother of eight children and has 10 grandchildren
Favourite traditional dish: Al Harees, a slow cooked porridge-like dish made from boiled cracked or coarsely ground wheat mixed with meat or chicken
Favourite book: My early life by Sheikh Dr Sultan bin Muhammad Al Qasimi, the Ruler of Sharjah
Favourite quote: By Sheikh Zayed, the UAE's Founding Father, “Those who have no past will have no present or future.”
'Gold'
Director:Anthony Hayes
Stars:Zaf Efron, Anthony Hayes
Rating:3/5
Winners
Ballon d’Or (Men’s)
Ousmane Dembélé (Paris Saint-Germain / France)
Ballon d’Or Féminin (Women’s)
Aitana Bonmatí (Barcelona / Spain)
Kopa Trophy (Best player under 21 – Men’s)
Lamine Yamal (Barcelona / Spain)
Best Young Women’s Player
Vicky López (Barcelona / Spain)
Yashin Trophy (Best Goalkeeper – Men’s)
Gianluigi Donnarumma (Paris Saint-Germain and Manchester City / Italy)
Best Women’s Goalkeeper
Hannah Hampton (England / Aston Villa and Chelsea)
Men’s Coach of the Year
Luis Enrique (Paris Saint-Germain)
Women’s Coach of the Year
Sarina Wiegman (England)
On Instagram: @WithHopeUAE
Although social media can be harmful to our mental health, paradoxically, one of the antidotes comes with the many social-media accounts devoted to normalising mental-health struggles. With Hope UAE is one of them.
The group, which has about 3,600 followers, was started three years ago by five Emirati women to address the stigma surrounding the subject. Via Instagram, the group recently began featuring personal accounts by Emiratis. The posts are written under the hashtag #mymindmatters, along with a black-and-white photo of the subject holding the group’s signature red balloon.
“Depression is ugly,” says one of the users, Amani. “It paints everything around me and everything in me.”
Saaed, meanwhile, faces the daunting task of caring for four family members with psychological disorders. “I’ve had no support and no resources here to help me,” he says. “It has been, and still is, a one-man battle against the demons of fractured minds.”
In addition to With Hope UAE’s frank social-media presence, the group holds talks and workshops in Dubai. “Change takes time,” Reem Al Ali, vice chairman and a founding member of With Hope UAE, told The National earlier this year. “It won’t happen overnight, and it will take persistent and passionate people to bring about this change.”
Naga
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Springtime in a Broken Mirror,
Mario Benedetti, Penguin Modern Classics
GAC GS8 Specs
Engine: 2.0-litre 4cyl turbo
Power: 248hp at 5,200rpm
Torque: 400Nm at 1,750-4,000rpm
Transmission: 8-speed auto
Fuel consumption: 9.1L/100km
On sale: Now
Price: From Dh149,900
