The Irish Times
written by Ruadhan Mac Cormaic in Paris
Wednesday June 22, 2011
ZINE AL-ABIDINE Ben Ali has been sentenced in absentia to 35 years in jail after a Tunisian court took just one day to convict the former president whose overthrow helped inspire the Arab Spring.
Ben Ali, who has been in Saudi Arabia since being forced from power in January, was found guilty of theft and illegally possessing jewellery and large sums of cash.
There was mixed reaction, with many Tunisians expressing delight at a sentence longer than expected but others concerned at the quick deliberations.
“It is a big disappointment, the kind of charade of summary justice that the dictatorship had accustomed us to,” Mouhieddine Cherbib of a France-based Tunisian rights group said yesterday.
“We wanted a real trial, a fair one . . . a trial of the dictatorship with people who were tortured appearing as witnesses – a justice system from which you learn something,” Mr Cherbib added.
A 35-year sentence was also handed down to Ben Ali’s wife, Leila Trabelsi, a former hairdresser whose lavish lifestyle and clique of wealthy relatives were symbols of the corruption of the Ben Ali era for many Tunisians. The former president was also fined 50 million dinars (€25 million) and his wife 41 million dinars.
A second case against Ben Ali, involving weapons and drugs allegedly found at a presidential residence in Carthage, was postponed to June 30th to allow his legal team more time to prepare his defence.
Ben Ali’s lawyer in Beirut denounced the verdict as farcical. “This is a joke,” Akram Azoury told Agence France Presse. “You don’t react to a joke. You just laugh.”
The former president, who presided over an authoritarian regime for 23 years, denies any wrongdoing. In a statement this week, Ben Ali said he had been tricked into leaving the country by senior security officials who told him he was the target of an assassination plot. He was persuaded to get on an aircraft that was taking his wife and children to safety in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, but with the intention of returning immediately, the statement said.
“He boarded the plane with his family after ordering the crew to wait for him in Jeddah. But after his arrival in Jeddah, the plane returned to Tunisia without waiting for him, contrary to his orders.
“He did not leave his post as president of the republic and hasn’t fled Tunisia as he was falsely accused of doing,” the statement said.
The Tunisian government said in February it had asked Saudi Arabia to extradite Ben Ali.
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Xinhua news
written by Staff
Monday June 21, 2011
TUNIS -- Former Tunisian President Zine El Abidine Ben Ali and his wife Leila Trabelsi were sentenced in absentia to 35 years each in prison, Tunisian television said Monday evening.
The conviction was made by a court in Tunis, which also ruled to fine the couple 91 million dinars (about 66 million U.S. dollars).
The trial, which started Monday, examined the charges of theft, corruption and drug smuggling against the couple. Other charges included money laundering, possession of arms and archeological artifacts.
After hearing the charges, Ben Ali's five court-appointed lawyers asked for a postponement of the trial, arguing that they needed more time to prepare for the defense.
Ben Ali fled to Saudi Arabia on January 14 amid popular protests against his 23-year rule.
Akram Azouri, the president's Lebanese lawyer, said in a statement Monday that Ben Ali denied the charges that he had issued orders to shoot protestors. He also denied having fled the country, saying he was tricked into leaving for Saudi Arabia by his former security chief Ali Seriaty.
Ben Ali also faces 182 charges in a military court, including voluntary manslaughter that may lead to death penalty under the Tunisian laws.
Both his Lebanese and French lawyers were not authorized to defend him, because under the Tunisian jurisdiction, foreign lawyers are not entitled to defend an indicted Tunisian national in absentia.
Following the sentence, Tunisian judicial authorities will send another extradition request against the former president to the Saudi authorities, a spokesman of the ministry of justice said.
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