Former Tunisian president Zine El Abidine Ben Ali, the first leader toppled in a wave of Arab uprisings, has denied all charges against him on the eve of his trial in absentia back home.
Mr Ben Ali, who faces charges related to theft, drugs and weapons at a criminal court in Tunis yesterday, “strongly denies all charges they are trying to press as he never possessed the sums of money they claimed to have found in his office,” his Beirut-based lawyer Akram Azoury said.
Mr Ben Ali “hopes with all his heart that Tunisia will overcome its current chaos and darkness and continue its path to progress,” he added in a statement released yesterday.
The former strongman fled to Saudi Arabia on January 14 in the face of a popular uprising against his 23-year rule and is to be tried in absentia by a criminal court over some 93 cases against his entourage.
He could face up to 20 years in prison if found guilty of the charges.
Yesterday’s trial is only the beginning of a long legal process that may see top members of Mr Ben Ali’s regime in the dock over allegations including murder, torture, money laundering and trafficking of archaeological artefacts.
Of the 93 charges Mr Ben Ali and his inner circle now face, 35 will be referred to the military court, Justice Ministry spokesman Kadhem Zine El Abidine has said. A murder or torture conviction by the military court carries the death penalty.
Military justice system chief, Colonel Major Marwane Bouguerra, said former interior minister Rafik Belhaj Kacem may find himself named in cases linked to 300 civilian deaths in protests between December 17-January 14.
Investigators are now trying to establish an inventory of alleged ill-gotten gains amassed by the ousted president and his wife Leila Trabelsi, estimated by the head of a national commission as being worth about a quarter of Tunisia’s gross national product.
At least two lawyers have been appointed to defend Mr Ben Ali and his wife in the trials, one in France and the second in Lebanon.
Mr Ben Ali’s lawyer in Beirut, also the attorney of a Lebanese general who had been held for four years without charge over the 2005 assassination of ex-premier Rafiq Hariri, said he would deny the accusations one by one.
“If he (Ben Ali) possessed these exorbitant sums of money, such as were allegedly found in his office, would he not have taken the money with him when he left the country?” Mr Azoury asked.
“The arms that were allegedly found were hunting weapons and mostly gifts from heads of state on their visits to Tunisia,” he added. “The allegations of drug possession are but shameful lies and fabrications. “We urge you to think for a moment: the drugs were allegedly found two months after (Ben Ali) left Tunisia, around the same time the money was found. Is this stupid, ridiculous charge not proof of the fabrication of this entire trial?”
Several European countries have frozen assets belonging to Mr Ben Ali and his entourage.
Non-governmental organisations Sherpa and Transparency International France earlier this month also filed a request to open a preliminary investigation into the assets of Mr Ben Ali and others.
The self-immolation in December of Mohamed Bouazizi, a 26-year-old street vendor who was complaining of unemployment, unleashed already-simmering popular anger against Ben Ali, his family and his entourage which led to the ouster of the President.
But today, while many Tunisians are happy the once-powerful couple are to face charges, others fear their trial in absentia is merely a ploy to appease demands for justice.
A source close to Mr Ben Ali said that the 74-year-old is currently in the Red Sea city of Jeddah with his wife, his daughter Halima, 18, and his son Mohammed Zine El Abidine, six.
Mr Ben Ali has kept a low profile since his escape to Saudi Arabia, with a relative saying in February that he was in a coma after a stroke.