The investigation opened for abuse of power, forgery and use of forged documents, and solicitation of bribes, concerns seven other people, whose identities have not been communicated.
The CEO of Tunisian state-owned airline Tunisair and the head of the internal union were imprisoned on Wednesday, July 31, on corruption charges, local media reported.
The head of the company, Khaled Chelli, 57, was detained as part of an investigation that began with the arrest of the secretary general of Tunisair’s internal union, Najmeddine Mzoughi, as he was preparing to cross the Ras Jedir border crossing with Libya, according to the Mosaรฏque FM radio website.
Mr. Mzoughi, also imprisoned on Wednesday, is suspected of falsifying diplomas, pimping, and corruption because he allegedly received sums of money to intervene in recruitment and promotions within the airline. The investigation opened for abuse of power, forgery and use of forged documents, and solicitation of bribes, concerns seven other people, whose identities have not been communicated.
In April, an investigating judge at the Tunis Court of First Instance had already detained three employees of the company in connection with a case of appointments based on falsified diplomas. Shortly before, the president, Kaรฏs Saรฏed, had, during a surprise visit to Tunis airport, denounced cases of corruption within the company, including recruitment based on false diplomas and trafficking in spare parts.
He also protested against an “illegal” and discounted sale in 2017 of a plane from the company, assuring that it had “left the territory without authorization” and was in Florida. On this occasion, he repeated his rejection of any privatization of the hundred or so Tunisian public companies present in all sectors of the economy, most of which are loss-making.
