Trial of Tunisia's ousted president Ben Ali to begin next week

The trial in absentia of former Tunisian president Zine al-Abidine Ben Ali, who fled to Saudi Arabia in January, will begin next week, Tunisia's interim prime minister said on Monday. "Ben Ali's trial will start on 20 June," Beji Caid-Essebsi said in an interview on al-Jazeera television. "He will be tried in a military and in a civilian court." Ben Ali fled to Jeddah after he was toppled by mass protests on 14 January after 23 years in power. Several members of his family and security and some of his closest allies were detained shortly after he was forced out. Tunisian authorities have been preparing several legal cases against Ben Ali, including conspiring against the state, voluntary manslaughter and drug trafficking. The caretaker authorities, trying to assert their authority and gain legitimacy in the eyes of protesters who forced the transition, are attacking the vestiges of his rule. Saudi authorities have not responded to a request by Tunis to extradite Ben Ali and his wife Leila Trabelsi. Former Egyptian president Hosni Mubarak, who was ousted shortly after Ben Ali, is also due to stand trial for the killing of protesters and could face the death penalty