Former Tunisian President’s Son-In-Law Released Following Harassment Charges

Slim Chiboub, businessman and son-in-law of former Tunisian president Zine El Abidine Ben Ali.
Slim Chiboub, businessman and son-in-law of former Tunisian president Zine El Abidine Ben Ali.
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Former Tunisian President’s Son-In-Law Released Following Harassment Charges

Slim Chiboub, businessman and son-in-law of former Tunisian president Zine El Abidine Ben Ali.
Slim Chiboub, businessman and son-in-law of former Tunisian president Zine El Abidine Ben Ali.

The son-in-law of deposed Tunisian president Zine El Abidine Ben Ali was released Saturday after being jailed on harassment charges on Wednesday.

A complaint was filed by a well-known female journalist against businessman Slim Chiboub, accusing him of harassing her.

Arbia Ben Hamadi said he first began harassing her by carrying out a series of phone calls over a two-week period, in which he offered her a job at a TV channel, which she refused.

However, Chiboub insisted and made several more attempts to contact her before she gave her phone to her husband, a lawyer who submitted the complaint to the police and public prosecution.

Ben Hamadi asserted that she had not met Chiboub prior to this incident, adding that she had all the evidence that led to his arrest.

Chiboub has denied the accusations.

According to Chiboub’s lawyer, his client suffered a health problem during his arrest, forcing him to be transferred from prison to hospital.

He said he will appear before the public prosecution when he recovers.

Chiboub was pursued by the judiciary after the 2011 revolution, but he reached an agreement with the Tunisian state through the mediation of the Truth and Dignity Commission.

According to the reconciliation, the businessman paid 307 million dinars (about $102 million) in compensation to the state, in exchange for dropping all judicial charges against him.

The national law to combat violence against women, ratified in 2018, punishes whoever harasses women with a variety of penalties.

Any man who harasses a woman in public is required to pay a fine ranging from 500 dinars to 1,000 dinars (between 165 and 330 dollars). Those who sexually assault women are jailed for two years and finedf 5,000 dinars (about $1,600 dollars).



Lebanon Bans Dealing with Hezbollah Financial Entity

A view shows Lebanon's Central Bank building in Beirut, Lebanon April 4, 2025. REUTERS/Mohamed Azakir/File Photo
A view shows Lebanon's Central Bank building in Beirut, Lebanon April 4, 2025. REUTERS/Mohamed Azakir/File Photo
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Lebanon Bans Dealing with Hezbollah Financial Entity

A view shows Lebanon's Central Bank building in Beirut, Lebanon April 4, 2025. REUTERS/Mohamed Azakir/File Photo
A view shows Lebanon's Central Bank building in Beirut, Lebanon April 4, 2025. REUTERS/Mohamed Azakir/File Photo

Lebanon's central bank has banned banks and brokerages from dealing with a Hezbollah-affiliated financial institution, according to a circular, a sign of the group's diminished sway over state affairs since its devastating war with Israel.

Keeping up military pressure on the Iran-backed group, Israel on Tuesday launched some of its heaviest airstrikes since a ceasefire in November, saying it hit training camps and weapons depots in east Lebanon. A security source in Lebanon said 12 people were killed, five of them Hezbollah fighters, Reuters reported.

Hezbollah has faced mounting pressures since the war, including financial ones.

In the circular, dated July 14 and reviewed by Reuters, Banque du Liban prohibited all licensed financial institutions in Lebanon from dealing directly or indirectly with unlicensed entities and listed Hezbollah's Al-Qard Al-Hassan as an example.

The US Department of Treasury imposed sanctions on Al-Qard Al-Hassan in 2007, saying Hezbollah used it as a cover to manage "financial activities and gain access to the international financial system".

Bolstered by its powerful arsenal, Hezbollah had long exercised decisive influence over Lebanese state affairs, but it was unable to impose its will in the formation of a post-war government in February.

Al-Qard Al-Hassan, founded in 1983, describes itself as a charitable organisation which provides loans to people according to Islamic principles that forbid interest. Israel struck some of its branches during its war with Hezbollah last year.

Operating as a not-for-profit organisation under a licence granted by the Lebanese government, it has more than 30 branches, mostly in southern Lebanon and the Bekaa Valley.

SHADOW ECONOMY

A Lebanese official said the central bank move had been in the works for months, and reflected US pressure on Lebanon to take action against Hezbollah's financial wing.

Nassib Ghobril, chief economist at Byblos Bank, said Lebanese banks were already careful to avoid dealing with Al-Qard Al-Hassan because it is under US sanctions.

"The important point is that finally the authorities are addressing the shadow economy in Lebanon, which is the real problem," he said, adding that authorities had long failed to address its "toxic effects".

In June, the European Commission included Lebanon in an updated list of high-risk jurisdictions presenting strategic deficiencies in their national anti-money laundering and countering the financing of terrorism.

Last year, global financial crime watchdog FATF placed Lebanon on its "grey list" of countries under special scrutiny.