Tunisian ousted President Ben Ali accused of 18 charges including manslaughter

Tunisian ousted President Ben Ali accused of 18 charges including manslaughter

2011-04-14 22:28:43 GMT+7 (ICT)

TUNIS, TUNISIA (BNO NEWS) -- Tunisian Justice Ministry on Thursday announced that ousted President Zine el-Abidine Ben Ali is facing 18 charges including conspiring against the State and voluntary manslaughter.

According to the state-run TAP news agency, Ben Ali, his relatives and some of his ministers are mentioned in 44 legal cases as informed by Justice Minister Lazhar Karoui Chebbi.

Minister Chebbi added that authorities have issued a request to Interpol to freeze the assets of the former president and his family. A delegation of the Interior and Justice Ministries will travel to Interpol's headquarters in Lyon, France to accelerate the process.

The Tunisian caretaker government recently adopted a decree to seize and transfer the assets of the former leader Ben Ali, who currently lives in Suadi Arabia, to State property.

In January, former President Ben Ali was ousted after weeks of violent protests over economic issues. The interim leadership announced the formation of new government of national unity that included members of the opposition.

The government of Interim President Foued Mebazaa has been dismantling all ties with the previous government of Ben Ali. Recently, the former ruling Democratic Constitutional Rally Party (RCD) and the State Security Division were dissolved.

Both were controlled by Ben Ali and all its funds and properties were transferred to the state. The security division was known as Ben Ali's secret police which perpetrated several human rights abuses.

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