Ben Ali Gets Another 15 Years for Drugs, Weapons

The ousted Tunisian leader now faces a total of 50 years in prison if he ever returns.

Former Tunisian president Zine el-Abidine Ben Ali has been sentenced to another 15 years in prison for possession of two kilograms of cannabis resin and caches of weapons. Ben Ali, who has been living in exile in Saudi Arabia since stepping down in January, has already been sentenced to 35 years for corruption, and will likely get even more years once a judge reviews charges of murder and torture stemming from his crackdown on anti-government protesters. The real crime here, though, is that a head of state, and a multimillionaire despot at that, had to settle for what the defence termed “mediocre” hash. Had Ben Ali had better product, perhaps his retaliation to the protesters wouldn't have been so harsh.