TUNIS, A Tunisian court
Monday 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. You just
laugh."
The former president denies any
wrongdoing and in a statement
released Monday said he had
not intended to go into exile
while condemning political
developments in Tunisia since the
end of his 23-year rule.
"I did not abandon my post as
president nor did I flee Tunisia,
as some media have falsely
reported, I was duped into
leaving Tunis," read a statement
earlier released by Azoury.
The trial was only the start of a
long process that may see top
members of Ben Ali's regime in
the dock over allegations
including murder, torture,
money laundering and trafficking
of archaeological artefacts.
Of the 93 charges Ben Ali and
his inner circle face, 35 will be
referred to the military court,
according to the justice ministry
spokesman.
A murder or torture conviction
carries the death penalty, though
Ben Ali is not expected to face
these charges.
The military justice system chief,
Colonel Major Marwane
Bouguerra, said former interior
minister Rafik Belhaj Kacem may
find himself named in cases
linked to the 300 civilian deaths
in protests between December
17-January 14.
Protests both in support and
condemning the trial could be
heard within the courtroom on
Monday.
"What are they putting on trial?
Air? This makes no sense," said
Mohamed Salah Zaalouni, a
waiter.
Ben Ali -- accompanied by his
wife and two children -- left
Tunisia for Saudi Arabia in
January at the climax of the first
of the Arab uprisings.
In Monday's statement, Ben Ali
said he had been advised by his
security chief Ali Al-Soryati to
leave Tunisia on January 14
because of fears of an
assassination plot.
He said he had bundled his
family onto a plane which took
them to Saudi Arabia and had
explicitly instructed the pilot to
wait for him at Jeddah airport.
"But after arriving in Jeddah the
plane turned around and
headed back to Tunis, disobeying
my instructions," he said.
Ben Ali said he considered
himself the victim of a plot that
needs him as the "absolute evil"
so that Tunisians "are prepared
for a new political system
created behind their backs by
extremists."
His dramatic departure came less
than a month after the self-
immolation of Mohamed
Bouazizi, a 26-year-old street
vendor who was complaining of
unemployment, unleashed
already-simmering popular anger
against Ben Ali.
Saudi Foreign Minister Saud al-
Faisal has said the kingdom gave
refuge to Ben Ali on condition
he would not use it as a base for
political activities.