Presidential Candidate Karim Gharbi Sentenced to Four Years in Prison
Rapper, businessman, and former son-in-law of the ousted president Zine El Abidine Ben Ali, K2 RIM, whose real name is Karim Gharbi, was sentenced on August 14 to four years in prison in absentia for having “bought endorsements to run for the presidential election on October 6,” said Alaa Eddine Aouadi, spokesperson for the Jendouba Court of First Instance.
The sentence, pronounced in absentia, condemns the rapper to four years in prison, a fine of 5,000 dinars, and a lifetime ban from running for any election. These decisions stem from accusations of collecting signatures for a presidential candidacy in exchange for payments, revealed the court spokesperson to Tunis Afrique Presse (TAP). In this same case, the president of the Jendouba Local Council was sentenced to one year in prison and a fine of 1,000 dinars. A third accused, also tried in absentia, received a sentence of four years in prison with immediate execution and a fine of 5,000 dinars. Other defendants (those who accepted to sponsor Karim Gharbi for payment) are, for their part, banned from voting for six years.
In the same vein, a detention warrant against the local official, who will be brought before the correctional chamber along with Karim Gharbi and another accused, both of whom are fugitives, was issued by the public prosecutor on Monday, August 12. The charges against the three aforementioned defendants concern “the distribution of cash or in-kind donations to influence voters,” according to Article 161 of the new Electoral Code. The investigation was initiated following communications between several people negotiating support for Karim Gharbi. Four women involved in this case have already been sentenced. Three of them received sentences of three and two years in prison. The fourth was sentenced to four years in prison with immediate execution. These women are known to be close to Leïla Ben Ali, who is suspected of being behind the funding of K2RIM to take revenge on history and make a grand return to Tunisia.
