Tunisia: Former Environment Minister sentenced to three years in prison

A court in Tunisia has condemned former Environment minister Mustapha Aroui to three years in prison for involvement in the illegal import of household waste from Italy in 2020.

The ruling was issued by Tunis Court of Instance. Aroui has been in prison since December 2020, only six months into the job.

The case raised eyebrows in the North African country. A Tunisian company signed a deal with an Italian firm to ship home 120,000 tons of waste from the European country for a revenue of 48 euros per tons.

The deal flied in the face of Tunisia’s ban of the import of household waste. Authorities, aside from Aroui, also arrested several officials of the ministry of environment and customs.

The Court dropped charges against Chokri Belhassen, former minister of environment who held the department from 2016 to 2018.