On Thursday 5 October, the General Court of the EU refused to lift the freeze on the assets of Sirine Ben Ali, daughter of the former Tunisian President, and her husband, Mohamed Mabrouk (cases T-149/15 and T-175/15).
According to the General Court, the Council of the EU observed the criteria to justify the freezing of their assets (decision 2015/157/CFSP) and had sufficient evidence of the actions of which Ben Ali and Mabrouk were accused, for instance in the form of statements by the Tunisian authorities.
The Council decided to freeze the assets of these two individuals because they were under legal investigation by the Tunisian authorities for complicity in the embezzlement of public funds by a public official.
In January 2011, the EU decided (decision 2011/72) to punish persons and entities responsible for embezzling Tunisian public funds (see EUROPE 10305). The decision, which has been modified several times to include more than 40 individuals, will run until the beginning of 2018.
However, the General Court cancelled a decision in 2013 to freeze the assets of three of Ben Ali's sons-in-law, on the grounds that the Council's decision did not include the notion of money laundering (see EUROPE 10854). (Original version in French by Mathieu Bion)