Home | Office Holder | Zine El Abidine Ben Ali
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Zine El Abidine Ben Ali lang-ar|زين العابدين بن علي, Zayn al-‘Ābidīn bin ‘Alī; born 3 September 1936) is a former Tunisian politician and the second President of the Tunisian Republic. He held the office from 7 November 1987, until he was forced to step down and flee the country on 14 January 2011. Ben Ali was appointed Prime Minister in October 1987, and assumed the Presidency in November 1987 in a bloodless coup d'état from President Habib Bourguiba, who was declared incompetent. Ben Ali was subsequently reelected with enormous majorities exceeding 90% every time; the final reelection was on 25 October 2009. On 14 January 2011, following the Tunisian Revolution, he was forced to flee to Saudi Arabia along with his wife Leïla Ben Ali and their three children. The interim Tunisian government asked for Interpol to issue an arrest warrant, charging him for money laundering and drug trafficking. He and his wife were sentenced in absentia to 35 years in prison on 20 June 2011. |