Abdelfatteh Amor: Ousted President thought power is a gift

Some 9,206 cases have been submitted so far to the Fact-Finding Committee on Cases of Corruption and Embezzlement, while 200 other cases were referred to courts, more than a half of which involves the ousted president and his relatives. Speaking on Wednesday at the second session of the meeting of the High Authority for Achievement of Revolution Objectives, Political Reform and Democratic Transition devoted to hearing the fact-finding committee on cases of corruption and embezzlement, Mr. Abdelfatteh Amor, Chairman of the Committee said "Tunisia was living under the yoke of a well-organised system of corruption and embezzlement," which, he said, "was gradually strengthened and exercised its control on the State and society." The old regime, he specified, thought that power was a gift to be shared between the president and his relatives and that the pyramid structure of the power was based on "fellowship," which led to the proliferation of corruption and embezzlement in all structures of the State and society. In this context, Mr. Abdelfatteh Amor emphasised the urgent need to develop a coherent strategy to dismantle the system of corruption and reflect on the creation of a permanent authority to fight against corruption and embezzlement. Most of the speakers denounced the black-out imposed on works of the committee as well as on the progress of cases of corruption in all areas, asking about the possible existence of legal restrictions on information around cases submitted for review. Members of the High Authority for the Achievement of the Revolution Objectives discussed the idea of establishing a blacklist of corrupted persons in different sectors as it was the case for the judiciary, the media and lawyers as well as the issue of privatisation of several public corporations. In his response to questions and remarks, Mr. Abdelfatteh Amor said that though it seeks to respect the confidentiality of its works, in accordance with the law, the committee tries, whenever possible, to inform the public opinion of the progress of corruption cases, reminding, in this regard, of the calendar set by the committee on cases under review and those that were communicated to the media. He said that the review of the cases submitted by the committee to the public prosecution is the responsibility of courts, adding that except for the "case of the Tunis-Carthage airport," all other cases under review are supported by data provided by the fact-finding committee. Each time it prepares a case supported by documents and evidence, the committee refers it to courts, he underlined. Regarding the volume of financial corruption and its impact on the economy, Mr. Abdelfatteh Amor said it is impossible to accurately assess the value of corruption since this requires a deep work. He announced that the committee will examine this issue in its evaluation report to be published soon. Mr. Amor also said that "the people contributed, in turn, to amplifying the phenomenon of corruption in the country." This statement was strongly criticised by members of the high authority who considered it an insult to them and to the people.