TUNIS: A former Tunisian communications minister and a journalist considered mouthpieces of ousted dictator Zine El Abidine Ben Ali have been detained at a military barracks pending trial, judicial sources told AFP on Wednesday.
The arrest of Oussama Romdhani and Borhane Bsaies comes during an inquiry into improper payments before the revolution that toppled the Ben Ali regime in January last year.
Bsaies, whose detention was confirmed to AFP by his wife, is accused of receiving an income both from the education ministry and Tunisian telecoms firm Sotetel, something illegal under Tunisian law.
He was a key figure in the country’s Atce public relations agency, which under Ben Ali wielded huge power over journalists and foreign correspondents in particular, threatening some of them because of their coverage of the revolution.
Romdhani, who was chief executive of Atce for years, before his appointment as communications minister in 2009, is accused of commanding those who intimidated journalists during the popular uprisings.