Recovery of Embezzled and Displaced Assets Abroad: A Priority for Tunisia
The issue of recovering embezzled and displaced assets abroad is more pressing than ever. This is because President Kais Saied is maintaining pressure on the government to ensure that Tunisia's diplomacy, reconciled with its fundamentals, continues to fight on the international stage, allowing Tunisians to recover, as the Head of State has repeatedly stated, "all their stolen assets and property, both during the Ben Ali era and the dark decade".
A Developmental Approach that Combines Domestic and Foreign Policy
One of the essential characteristics distinguishing the developmental approach established in Tunisia since the July 25 process, under the direct impetus of the President of the Republic and implemented under his daily supervision, is that domestic policy is constantly complementary to or interdependent with foreign policy. This means that the initiatives proposed by Tunisia during its participation in international conferences on peace, economic and social development, and climate change evolve in correlation with the policies undertaken in Tunisia.
International Contributions and National Priorities
The contributions resulting from Tunisia's participation in global forums demonstrate that nothing is left to chance, and the issues that some believe are buried are at the forefront of the government's concerns and receive special attention from the Head of State. This is the case with the recovery of embezzled assets transferred abroad, a thorny issue that has been pending since the early weeks of the revolution, but unfortunately, has been left without significant follow-up by post-revolutionary governments. Some ministers have even publicly washed their hands of the issue, claiming they had done everything in their power without being able to identify the countries where these stolen assets were transferred or locate the immovable property.
A Persistent Effort to Recover Stolen Assets
Many Tunisians who follow national political life have decided to stop talking about the issue. However, at the Carthage Palace, the file remains a priority, based on the principle that Tunisia will never give up claiming the restitution of its assets. Even if European and Arab countries are insensitive to Tunisian claims, Tunisia persists in its efforts, maintains diplomatic pressure, and seizes every opportunity to put the file back on the table of UN negotiations on the recovery of stolen assets and property.
Recent Developments and Commitments
The latest UN meeting on the follow-up to the results of the 4th Development Finance Congress allowed the Tunisian delegation to demonstrate the country's commitment to innovating and proposing new solutions to encourage the restitution of these assets, with the aim of exploiting them in cooperation and partnership programs to reduce the economic gap between the West and developing countries. The Head of State has repeatedly expressed his attachment to the idea that "Tunisians will not give up a single dime of the stolen assets transferred abroad".
Accountability and Justice
The Head of State also adds that those who have deliberately failed to fulfill their mission to recover these assets within the deadlines and have knowingly neglected the constitution of legal files will be prosecuted before the justice system. Even if most of these irresponsible individuals barricade themselves abroad, they will never be able to benefit from the principle of prescription, which no longer has a place in Tunisian legislation. Tunisians have indeed decided to take their destiny into their own hands and fully exercise their absolute right to total and lasting sovereignty. The return of their money is the number one symbol of this deserved and meritorious sovereignty.
A Broadened Scope for Recovery
An observation imposes itself on all those interested in the file: the assets to be recovered concern not only those stolen during the Ben Ali era but also those stolen throughout the dark decade.
