Former Tunisian President Sentenced to 35 Years In Prison

Tunisian authorities came on Tuesday under a lot of criticism from the people as they passed a quick sentence against the former president of the country, Zine al Abidine Ben Ali, and his wife, Leila Trabelsi.

The former dictator was judged in absentia on Monday and was sentenced to 35 years in prison for misappropriating public funds.

The court passed the sentence after six hours of deliberation in the first day of the trial, and was considered by many Tunisians a “charade,” while the lawyers of Ben Ali spoke of it as of a “joke.”

Human right defenders slammed the way the decision was passed, asserting that it was similar to the way this kind of sentences were passed in the time of Ben Ali.

People said that they wanted a real trial for the former president, and that they did not favor this kind of justice.

Ben Ali and his wife were accused of embezzlement after money and jewelry were found at their residence outside the capital of the country, Tunis.

Ben Ali was also fined $36 million and his wife $30 million in the verdict.

The judge added that the sentence was to be carried out immediately, in spite of the fact that the presidential family now lives in Saudi Arabia.

A second charge that involves the former dictator alone refers to drug and arms dealings was postpone until June 30 to allow lawyers to prepare the trial.

Ben Ali issued a statement on Monday, by which he said he had never abandoned his country and that he was victim of a political plot.