TUNIS, June 21: A Tunisian court sentenced ousted strongman Zine el Abidine Ben Ali and his wife to 35 years in prison each for misappropriating public funds and fined the exiled couple tens of millions of euros (dollars). “The court has ruled the facts against Zine el Abidine Ben Ali and Leila Trabelsi have been established,” Judge Touhami Hafi said as he read out the verdict after only six hours of deliberation on the first day of the landmark trial.The couple were charged with embezzlement after the discovery of money and jewellery in their palace in the outskirts of Tunis.
Ben Ali was fined 50 million dinars (25 million euros/$36 million) and his wife Leila Trabelsi 41 million dinars (20.5 million euro/$30 million) in the verdict.
The judge said the sentences, which exceeded the 20 years that had been widely predicted, would take immediate effect, despite the couple being in Saudi Arabia.
A second case targetting Ben Ali only, involving weapons and drugs allegedly found in a presidential residence in Carthage, was postponed to June 30 to allow his lawyers more time to prepare their defence.
Ben Ali’s lawyer in Beirut denounced the verdict as farcical.“This is a joke,” attorney Akram Azoury told AFP. “You don’t retaliate to a joke.
Ben Ali was fined 50 million dinars (25 million euros/$36 million) and his wife Leila Trabelsi 41 million dinars (20.5 million euro/$30 million) in the verdict.
The judge said the sentences, which exceeded the 20 years that had been widely predicted, would take immediate effect, despite the couple being in Saudi Arabia.
A second case targetting Ben Ali only, involving weapons and drugs allegedly found in a presidential residence in Carthage, was postponed to June 30 to allow his lawyers more time to prepare their defence.
Ben Ali’s lawyer in Beirut denounced the verdict as farcical.“This is a joke,” attorney Akram Azoury told AFP. “You don’t retaliate to a joke.
