(Ahlul Bayt News Agency) - A military court in Tunisia has sentenced the country's ousted dictator Zine El Abidine Ben Ali to 20 years in jail on a variety of charges including incitement to murder.
The court on Wednesday found Ben Ali guilty for "inciting disorder, murder and looting" over killings of four youths in the eastern coastal town of Ouardanine during the last year’s popular revolution.
Ben Ali, who was tried in absentia, is in Saudi Arabia since he fled Tunisia on January 14, 2011.
Several members of Ben Ali’s regime also got prison sentences of five to ten years over the Ouardanine killings. Some of them were tried in absentia.
A Tunisian military prosecutor is demanding death penalty for the ousted dictator over the other deaths during the last year’s popular revolution.
He has already been sentenced to decades in prison on a range of charges, including corruption and torture, but has not yet been convicted of charges that carry the death penalty.
Some other prosecutors are also seeking the harshest penalties possible for Ben Ali's 22 co-defendants.
According to United Nations figures, more than 300 people were killed and many others wounded in the former government crackdown on protests over corruption, unemployment, and high food prices.
Many of the victims died by live rounds fired by security forces during the January 2011 pro-democracy protests.
Saudi Arabia has refused to hand over Ben Ali and his wife to Tunisian authorities despite the fact that they are the subject of an international arrest warrant.
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The court on Wednesday found Ben Ali guilty for "inciting disorder, murder and looting" over killings of four youths in the eastern coastal town of Ouardanine during the last year’s popular revolution.
Ben Ali, who was tried in absentia, is in Saudi Arabia since he fled Tunisia on January 14, 2011.
Several members of Ben Ali’s regime also got prison sentences of five to ten years over the Ouardanine killings. Some of them were tried in absentia.
A Tunisian military prosecutor is demanding death penalty for the ousted dictator over the other deaths during the last year’s popular revolution.
He has already been sentenced to decades in prison on a range of charges, including corruption and torture, but has not yet been convicted of charges that carry the death penalty.
Some other prosecutors are also seeking the harshest penalties possible for Ben Ali's 22 co-defendants.
According to United Nations figures, more than 300 people were killed and many others wounded in the former government crackdown on protests over corruption, unemployment, and high food prices.
Many of the victims died by live rounds fired by security forces during the January 2011 pro-democracy protests.
Saudi Arabia has refused to hand over Ben Ali and his wife to Tunisian authorities despite the fact that they are the subject of an international arrest warrant.
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