A Tunisian court found former president Zine al-Abidine Ben Ali and his wife guilty of theft and the illegal possession of large quantities of money and jewelry. He sentenced them to 35 years in jail, which is great and all, except Ben Ali and his wife are in Saudi Arabia, making extradition a little unlikely.
Still, it’s a nice symbolic victory – Ben Ali had been accused of manipulating the courts throughout the 23 years of his presidency until the government’s overthrow in January.
There’s more at stake than symbols, though – Judge Touhami Hafian, who read the sentence, also ruled that the Ben Alis would have to pay fines around the order of $65.6 million, which would be handy for a fledgling post-revolutionary government.
Ben Ali is also accused of illegal possession of drugs and weapons, the ruling for which should come down at the end of the month.
[Source: Reuters]
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