Tunisia's deposed president Ben Ali slams corruption trial 'masquerade'

Almost 90 charges against ex-president, his family and former Tunisian officials include 2kg of narcotics allegedly found in Ben Ali's private office and $27m in cash discovered in his palace in Tunis.

PARIS // The deposed and exiled Tunisian autocrat Zine el Abidine Ben Ali broke his silence yesterday to denounce his imminent trial on corruption charges, according to his French lawyer.

"Tired of being made a sacrificial lamb by lies and injustice, president Ben Ali has exceptionally dropped his discretion," Jean-Yves Le Borgne, who represents the former leader in France, said in a statement.

Mr Ben Ali fled Tunisia in January after a revolt against his 23-year rule and is thought to be in Saudi Arabia. He has made no public appearances and family members say he suffered a stroke in February.

Tunisia's new authorities are preparing to try him and his wife Leila Trabelsi in absentia. They face drugs, guns and graft charges.

The French statement represents the first time the 74-year-old leader has spoken out since fleeing Tunis, even indirectly, and is the first sign that he plans to fight the legal challenges hanging over him.

"The searches conducted in his official and personal offices are just stage-dressing designed to discredit him," Mr Le Borgne alleged.

"The case that Tunisia is building against him is nothing but a masquerade which serves no purpose other than to mark a symbolic break with the past."

The French lawyer said that he was working alongside Mr Ben Ali's main counsel, the renowned Lebanese jurist Akram Azouri, to represent his client's interests in Paris, capital of Tunisia's former colonial power.

But he insisted that reports that Mr Ben Ali has significant assets in France are false, declaring that he has "no real estate, no bank accounts in France and none in any other foreign country".

Mr Le Borgne alleged that Mr Ben Ali was the victim of a smear campaign designed to make him and his family appear to be solely responsible for the problems that led to the Tunisian revolt.

But anti-graft watchdogs have lodged a formal complaint alleging looted Tunisian funds are being held in France and a formal inquiry has begun.

Back in Mr Ben Ali's homeland, the justice ministry said on Friday that trials could begin in the coming days or weeks.

"The investigating magistrates have completed their inquiries," said spokesman Kadhem Zine el Abidine, adding that the first charge relates to the discovery of weapons and drugs in the presidential palace at Carthage.

Almost two kilogrammes of narcotics, thought to be cannabis, were allegedly found in the former president's private office.

The second charge involves US$27 million (Dh99.1m) in cash discovered in Mr Ben Ali's palace in the Tunis suburb of Sidi Bou Said in February.

These finds form the basis of only two of a total of 88 ongoing inquiries into the first couple, their family and the regime's former ministers and officials, the spokesman said.

Authorities are also looking into cases of murder, abuse of power, trafficking of archaeological artefacts and money laundering.

Tunisia's interim administration has demanded the former president's extradition from Saudi Arabia, along with his wife, and several European countries have frozen assets belonging to Mr Ben Ali and his entourage.