A court on Monday convicted former Tunisian president Zine El Abidine Ben Ali of smuggling drugs, guns and archeological artifacts and sentenced him to 15 years in prison in the latest trial in absentia of the deposed autocrat.
Ben Ali will also be fined US$72,000. The verdict follows a trial two weeks ago in which he and his wife each received sentences of 35 years in prison and US$64 million in fines for embezzlement and other charges.
Authorities say another 91 charges remain just for the civil courts.
Ben Ali ruled Tunisia with an iron hand for more than two decades before fleeing to Saudi Arabia on Jan. 14, after a month-long popular uprising that heralded the start of a wave of protests for greater freedoms across the Middle East.
Saudi Arabia has declined to answer Tunisia’s request to extradite the former president, but the new government has proceeded with the trials.
Monday’s one-day trial began with the public defenders assigned to plead Ben Ali’s case walking out of the courtroom after their request for more time was turned down.
The trial continued in their absence, with prosecutors citing the discovery of weapons and drugs as well as archeological treasures in Ben Ali’s palace in Carthage. They also cited the testimony of the head of his personal guard and one of his bodyguards.
Ben Ali has claimed in a statement that the jewels and weapons were gifts from heads of state and the money and drugs were planted.
The former president has foreign attorneys, but Tunisian law says lawyers from other countries cannot represent clients being tried in absentia. As a result, court-appointed lawyers Hosni Beji and Bechir Mahfoudhi were assigned to defend Ben Ali.
Beji asked the judge for sufficient time to contact his client and persuade him to attend the trial, while his colleague asked for another delay so that they could better prepare the defense. Their requests were denied.
“We would have liked a fair trial,” said Beji, before leaving with his colleague.
As they left the court, the lawyers were booed by onlookers, who shouted they should resign.
“Good riddance, you would have done better defending the victims of Ben Ali rather than be the lawyers for a torturer,” said Ali Laayouni, a young unemployed university graduate from the center of the country where the rebellion first broke out.
Monday’s trial has already been delayed twice, first at the request of defense attorneys, who said they needed more time to study the file. It was delayed again due to a lawyers’ strike.
In addition to the civil cases, there are another 182 counts that fall under military jurisdiction, some of which could result in a death sentence, including his role in the deaths of 300 people during the uprisings.
Ben Ali’s foreign attorneys have dismissed the trials as rigged and part of a campaign to demonize the former president at the behest of Tunisia’s new rulers.
Republican US lawmakers on Friday criticized US President Joe Biden’s administration after sanctioned Chinese telecoms equipment giant Huawei unveiled a laptop this week powered by an Intel artificial intelligence (AI) chip. The US placed Huawei on a trade restriction list in 2019 for contravening Iran sanctions, part of a broader effort to hobble Beijing’s technological advances. Placement on the list means the company’s suppliers have to seek a special, difficult-to-obtain license before shipping to it. One such license, issued by then-US president Donald Trump’s administration, has allowed Intel to ship central processors to Huawei for use in laptops since 2020. China hardliners
A top Vietnamese property tycoon was on Thursday sentenced to death in one of the biggest corruption cases in history, with an estimated US$27 billion in damages. A panel of three hand-picked jurors and two judges rejected all defense arguments by Truong My Lan, chair of major developer Van Thinh Phat, who was found guilty of swindling cash from Saigon Commercial Bank (SCB) over a decade. “The defendant’s actions ... eroded people’s trust in the leadership of the [Communist] Party and state,” read the verdict at the trial in Ho Chi Minh City. After the five-week trial, 85 others were also sentenced on
Conjoined twins Lori and George Schappell, who pursued separate careers, interests and relationships during lives that defied medical expectations, died this month in Pennsylvania, funeral home officials said. They were 62. The twins, listed by Guinness World Records as the oldest living conjoined twins, died on April 7 at the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania, obituaries posted by Leibensperger Funeral Homes of Hamburg said. The cause of death was not detailed. “When we were born, the doctors didn’t think we’d make 30, but we proved them wrong,” Lori said in an interview when they turned 50, the Philadelphia Inquirer reported. The
RAMPAGE: A Palestinian man was left dead after dozens of Israeli settlers searching for a missing 14-year-old boy stormed a village in the Israeli-occupied West Bank US President Joe Biden on Friday said he expected Iran to attack Israel “sooner, rather than later” and warned Tehran not to proceed. Asked by reporters about his message to Iran, Biden simply said: “Don’t,” underscoring Washington’s commitment to defend Israel. “We are devoted to the defense of Israel. We will support Israel. We will help defend Israel and Iran will not succeed,” he said. Biden said he would not divulge secure information, but said his expectation was that an attack could come “sooner, rather than later.” Israel braced on Friday for an attack by Iran or its proxies as warnings grew of