Speedy sentence
June 21, 2011
He was meant to tremble in his boots - even if he was tucked away in secure exile in Saudi Arabia. He wasn't going to be sitting in the dock, but nonetheless Tunisia's ex-President Zine El Abidine Ben Ali was finally to be held accountable for his actions during his 23-year dictatorship. The judges wanted to make an example of Ben Ali and his wife; to symbolically clean up decades' worth of injustice with one verdict. They wanted to prove that the power of a modern society based on the rule of law can dissociate itself from its past. But just a few hours later, that plan was down the tubes.
Misplaced joy
The judge sentenced Ben Ali and his wife to a fine of more than 40 million euros ($57 million) and 35 years in prison for embezzlement. But anyone ready to shout "Bravo!" at that verdict likely found that joyous cry stuck in their throat: The first day of the trial had less to do with modern penal law than it did with an archaic ostracism. And it had pretty much nothing to do with the elaborate, expensive, and juristically water-tight trial held against Liberia's Charles Taylor in The Hague.
Don't get me wrong: Of course Ben Ali should be extradited and sentenced. So should his wife, Leila Trabelsi, a onetime hairdresser who is nearly universally hated by the Tunisian people for her extravagant lifestyle. Who wouldn't wish for lifelong prison for this pair?
Suspicions of political motivation
But sadly, the court didn't seem to want to bother with basing its decision on the mountains of available evidence against the pair. Rather, by issuing a sentence so very quickly, it looked to many onlookers as if the sentencing was politically motivated. The judge's comments on Monday weren't independent, but they were to be expected; the court issued its verdict for the public, on the very first day. That may well be morally understandable and even justifiable, but juristically, it doesn't hold water. The sentence was formulated in a mere few hours, as if by magic: 35 years in prison.
What kind of signal does that sort of guilty verdict send?
It seems no one gave much thought to the consequences of such a speedy verdict - they were more concerned with just getting it out there quickly. So Tunisia's courts now have to deal with accusations (from Ben Ali and, ironically, from many of his victims) of dispensing victors' justice. It seems Tunisia's judges have fallen into their own trap.
Safe in Saudi Arabia
The ex-dictator is unlikely to be worried by this speedy verdict, first of all, because he is safely in exile in Saudi Arabia. The Tunisian interim government's calls for his immediate extradition have fallen on deaf ears. Secondly, this first messed-up verdict, in effect, hands Ben Ali and his lawyers a huge advantage, since it will be used to discredit the rest of the trial. Ben Ali also faces charges of money laundering and treason, as well as torture and murder. No one knows when and if these will actually before a judge, or how the court will deal with the criticisms it is currently facing.
The Tunisians themselves are disappointed, and rightly so. On the one hand, the most important defendant isn't even in the courtroom. On the other hand, the trial hasn't even complied with its own most important demand: that is, the wish to restore trust in the rule of law in Tunisia.
Author: Alexander Göbel /jen
Editor: Susan Houlton