Prosecuted in a customs case, businessman Marouane Mabrouk appeared before the Specialized Criminal Chamber of Tunis. The examination of the file was postponed in order to allow the activation of a conciliation procedure with the administration concerned.
Marouane Mabrouk appeared Thursday before the Sixth Criminal Chamber specializing in financial corruption cases at the Tunis Court of First Instance. The hearing is part of a dispute linked to alleged offenses relating to customs regulations.
Justice grants procedural delay
During the debates, the defense lawyer indicated that his client intended to initiate an amicable settlement procedure with the Customs administration. In this context, he requested the postponement of the hearing until this process was finalized.
The Chamber granted the request and decided to refer the case to a hearing scheduled for the month of January.
Conditional release already granted
In this same case, the court had recently ordered the release of the businessman, accompanied by the payment of a financial bond set at 800 million dinars. This measure remains supervised by the continuation of the legal procedure and the evolution of the discussions initiated with the customs administration.
The outcome of the case will now depend on the results of the conciliation, the conclusions of which could influence the continuation of the proceedings.
A deposit of 800 MD
Last November, the Criminal Chamber specializing in financial corruption cases held a decisive hearing at the Court of First Instance of Tunis to examine the requests for release of the defendants in the case concerning the lifting of the freezing of the assets of businessman Marouane Mabrouk with the European Union.
The representative of the public prosecutor had requested a bail of one billion dinars (1000 MD), subsequently reduced to 800 MD in exchange for a possible release agreement for Marouane Mabrouk, who had appeared under arrest, alongside Adel Grar, former general manager of Karama Holding, and a third accused, also detained.
They are being prosecuted as part of the investigation into the conditions that led Tunisian authorities to request the lifting of the freeze on Mabrouk’s assets with the EU in 2017.
The list of accused also includes several former ministers and senior officials including Samir Taïeb and Riadh Mouakher, who is appearing at large; Youssef Chahed and Mabrouk Korchid, declared on the run.
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