Halima Ben Ali, one of the daughters of former Tunisian president Zine El Abidine Ben Ali, was arrested in Paris this Tuesday, September 30, 2025.
The arrest was confirmed by a French judicial source, cited by the France-Presse agency (AFP), stating that it intervenes as part of a judicial cooperation procedure and follows a Provisional arrest request issued by Tunisia.
The procedure: waiting for the exact reason
According to the same judicial source reported by AFP, Halima Ben Ali will be presented to the public prosecutor’s office tomorrow (Wednesday) for the notification of this Tunisian request. She will then appear before the delegated advisor to rule on her potential placement under extradition or judicial nut.
However, the exact reason of the international arrest warrant issued by Tunis was not immediately communicated.
Context: prosecution for financial corruption
Although the precise accusation chief motivating this arrest is not known, this approach is part of a broader and well -established legal context.
Surveys in Tunisia: The Ben Ali family and the Trabelsi entourage have been the subject of multiple surveys and trials in Tunisia since 2011, mainly for accusations of embezzlement of public funds and financial embezzlement. Halima Ben Ali was herself targeted by prosecution, even if she benefited from a dismissal in at least a specific case linked to a car concession, the court having judged that it was a minor at the time of the events.
EU sanctions: It is also on the list of people being the subject of European Union sanctions (asset freezing) to be considered responsible for the illicit appropriation of Tunisian public funds (according to official EU documents, such asEUR-LEX).
The arrest is therefore perceived as the continuation of the efforts of Tunisian justice to account for the members of the Old Regime.
