DEATH OF TUNISIAN DICTATOR BEN ALI

A week before his death, he was admitted to the hospital in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia. His family announced that his body must be transported to Mecca on Friday, where his burial will take place.

More than two decades of repressive power

He succeeded the father of independence, Habib Bourguiba, in 1987 "by a medical stroke" to spend twenty-three years in power, without sharing, before being swept away in January 2011 by the Jasmine Revolution. He fled, on January 14, 2011, in incredible conditions, to Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, where he had lived since in exile with his family.

In the early 1990s, the leader of Carthage announced he discovered the existence of an "Islamist conspiracy" to seize power through violence. This career soldier trained partly in France (Saint-Cyr) and in the United States then quickly establishes an ultra-repressive regime. The arrests begin in the ranks of Ennahdha. Huge trials are organized. Torture is systematized in the offices of the Ministry of the Interior. With the support of the police apparatus any dispute is stifled, the press and the unions muzzled.

During twenty-three years of an authoritarian regime he will maintain excellent relations with Western countries that appreciate his economic results (10 million tourists, 6% growth) and his fight against Islamism.

To the repressive regime introduced by the rais is added the monopolization of the wealth of the country by the family.

Capitalization of the country's wealth by the clan

In second marriage, the president married Leïla Trabelsi, a former hairdresser of twenty-one years younger. Then begins an era of corruption and nepotism, the beautiful family handing over wealth of the country with impunity and placing relatives in key positions. Banks, telecoms, tourism, etc. partly pass into the hands of the beautiful family, the Trabelsi, the Ben Ali, the Materi. The World Bank will estimate the hijacking of 5 billion euros, with nearly a quarter of private sector profits going into the pockets of Ben Ali clans.

If the coast of Tunisia enjoys a certain prosperity thanks to tourism, the situation in the interior of the country deteriorates the mining basin not benefitting from the economic consequences of this success. In 2008, riots broke out, violently repressed. It is the beginning of a gear that will be fatal to Ben Ali who, reelected in 2009 with 90% of the vote, does not meet the expectations of the population.

Immolation of Mohammed Bouazizi and protest movement

On December 17, 2010, Mohamed Bouazizi, a 26-year-old unemployed student, set himself on fire in front of the headquarters of Sidi Bouzid governorate, a small town in the center of the country because the police just confiscated the fruits and vegetables he he was selling to support his family on the grounds that he did not have a permit. What is lived as an unbearable humiliation. This desperate gesture will lead to the uprising of his compatriots and lead to the fall of Ben Ali.

A wave of protest sweeps across the country to Tunis where on January 14, 2011, 50,000 people are massed in front of the Ministry of the Interior. At 5:40 pm, the presidential plane takes off. On board, the president, his wife and their children who go into exile in Jeddah in Saudi Arabia.

In 2018, after trials in absentia for "intentional homicide", "abuse of power" or "embezzlement", he was sentenced in absentia to multiple prison terms, including several in perpetuity.