Tunisia sentences former president Ben Ali to 6 years

A Tunisian court has sentenced in absentia former President Zine El-Abidine Ben Ali to six years in prison on corruption charges.

The criminal court in the capital Tunis sentenced the former dictator after declaring that he had exploited his position for his own personal benefit.

The same court has also sentenced former higher education minister Al-Azhar Bou’ouni for the same period of six years, as well as former Ben Ali adviser and political backer Al-Sobhi Al-Umari for four years on charges of nepotism.

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The rulings are not the first against Ben Ali and his regime.

Similar rulings have already been issued in other cases which have stirred controversy in Tunisia, where some parties demand to enact a law on social reconciliation.

The Tunisian Al-Sarih newspaper said that Halima Ben Ali, the former president’s daughter, has commissioned lawyers to obtain permission and a passport so that she and her brother Mohamed Zine El Abidine can visit Tunisia, where there are no charges against them.