Zine El Abidine Ben Ali

Biography

Zine El Abidine Ben Ali was born on September 3, 1936, in Hammam Sousse, Tunisia, during the French colonial period. He embarked on a military career and received training at the École Spéciale Militaire de Saint-Cyr in France, which influenced his career as a military officer and intelligence expert. Climbing the ranks in Tunisia's armed forces and security services, he became a key figure in the political scene during President Habib Bourguiba's time in office.

In October 1987, Ben Ali became Prime Minister, and by November 7, 1987, he took power through a bloodless coup, claiming President Bourguiba was medically unfit to govern. He became the second President of Tunisia, initially portraying himself as a modernizing reformer who would loosen the tight control of his predecessor. At first, he seemed to promote political pluralism and released some political prisoners, but these steps were short-lived as his government tightened its grip and clamped down on opposition.

For the next two decades, Ben Ali led an increasingly repressive regime. He was re-elected in several elections, often criticized for being unfair, with vote tallies often over 90 percent. His administration was accused of extensive human rights violations, including torturing political detainees, silencing the press, and targeting Islamist groups like Ennahda. His wife, Leïla Ben Ali, and her family were seen as symbols of widespread corruption, amassing great wealth while ordinary Tunisians faced joblessness and economic woes.

In December 2010, the Tunisian revolution was sparked by the self-immolation of street vendor Mohamed Bouazizi, quickly growing into widespread protests against Ben Ali's rule. On January 14, 2011, after about a month of protests, Ben Ali fled Tunisia with his wife and three children, seeking refuge in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia. His departure kicked off the broader Arab Spring movement that spread through the Middle East and North Africa.

After he fled, Tunisian courts sought to hold him accountable in his absence. In June 2011, he and his wife were sentenced to 35 years in prison for theft and unlawfully possessing cash and jewelry. More sentences followed: in June 2012, he got a life sentence for inciting violence and murder, and in April 2013, a military court gave him another life sentence for harshly suppressing protests in Sfax. He served none of these sentences. Ben Ali lived in Saudi Arabia until he died on September 19, 2019, in Jeddah, at 83, after spending nearly a decade in exile. He was married twice, first to Naïma Ben Ali and later to Leïla Ben Ali.