Former Tunisian Environment Minister Mustapha Aroui was sentenced on Wednesday to three years in prison for his involvement in the case of Italian waste illegally imported into Tunisia, local media report.
As part of this trial, the Tunis Court of First Instance imposed the same prison sentence (3 years) against three defendants, 10 years in prison against an executive at the Ministry of the Environment, and 15 years in prison in absentia against the owner of the company importing Italian waste, still at large, specify the same sources. The case of waste imported from Italy, which dates back to mid-2020, concerned the illegal export, by an Italian company, of more than 280 containers of mixed municipal waste to Tunisia, under misleading allegations, according to which the waste was treated and would be recycled, while it presented little chance of recycling.
The case notably led to the dismissal of Aroui, who was arrested in December 2020, along with other executives from the Ministry of the Environment and the Tunisian Waste Management Agency (ANGED).
Revealed by the Tunisian media, this case triggered a great controversy in Tunisia and a mobilization of local associations responsible for environmental issues.