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Downfall of Ben Ali’s Corrupt In-Laws Met With Praise by Ordinary Tunisians
Elaine Ganley & Jenny Barchfield | January 19, 2011
Tunisians could not stand her even more than they could not stand him.
A man carrying goods from the house of Belhassen Trabelsi, the brother of the former president's wife, Leila Ben Ali, near the capital Tunis on Saturday. Tunisians could not stand Leila even more than they could not stand her husband. (AP Photo/Hassene Dridi)
The end of President Zine El Abidine Ben Ali’s iron-fisted, 23-year rule brought joy to many ordinary people in this North African nation — and they were especially elated at the prospect of life without his wife and her rapacious family.
The clan of former first lady Leila Trabelsi, a one-time hairdresser who rose to become Tunisia’s most influential woman, was widely despised as the ultimate symbol of corruption and excess.
Leila and her 10 siblings are said to have operated like a mafia, extorting money from shop owners, demanding a stake in businesses large and small, and divvying up plum concessions among themselves.
Their control over the North African country’s economy was vast. The Trabelsi and Ben Ali families were said to have a stake in Tunisian banks and airlines, car dealerships, Internet providers, radio and television stations, industry and retailers.
And when mass protests forced Ben Ali to flee last week to Saudi Arabia, his peoples’ pent-up rage was directed more at Leila’s side of the family than at her husband and his authoritarian regime.
Retribution was swift. Within a day of Ben Ali’s departure, many of the sumptuous villas and businesses belonging to the Trabelsis were pillaged and burned, and some reports said one prominent family member was killed by an angry mob.
A Tunis Air pilot who refused to take off with five fleeing family members on board has become a national hero.
A branch of Zeitouna Bank in Tunis founded by Ben Ali’s son-in-law was torched, as were vehicles made by the car brands he distributed, including Kia, Fiat and Porsche.
The Trabelsis “are thieves, tricksters and even killers,” raged Tunis resident Mantasser Ben Mabrouk. “Their only goal was to make money in whatever way they could.”
His friend, Mohamed Gaddahi, agreed, laying — as many here do — much of the blame for the regime’s abuses squarely on the Trabelsis. “The president did lots of good, but the family did lots of harm to Tunisia,” he said.
A lack of jobs in this highly educated nation fueled the month of popular protests that toppled Ben Ali. The uprising began in December after a despairing university graduate who sold fruits and vegetables without a permit set himself on fire and died because police confiscated his goods.
The co-author of a book on Leila Trabelsi, “The Regent of Carthage,” says the Trabelsis played an “absolutely capital” role in the fall of the regime.
“Tunisians were absolutely aware of what they were up to and they got to a point where they were sick and tired of their behavior,” author Catherine Graciet said. Still, she noted that “we can’t put all the blame on the Trabelsis, because it was Ben Ali himself who allowed them to act that way.”
Leila Trabelsi was born in 1957 — the fifth of 11 children of a dried fruits vendor and a housewife, according to Graciet’s book.
After working as a hairdresser and having a short-lived first marriage, Trabelsi married Ben Ali in 1992, five years after the bloodless palace coup in which he replaced aging independence hero Habib Bourguiba as president.
The marriage — which was also Ben Ali’s second — catapulted the once-modest Trabelsi clan to national prominence.
Her oldest brother, Belhassen, known as the clan chieftain, is said to have ruled over the family’s many mafia-style rackets.
Her nephew, Imed Trabelsi, was reputed to be the spoiled brat of the family and the former first lady’s favorite, according to the book. Known as a playboy, he enjoyed a jet-set lifestyle, complete with a garage full of sports cars and yachts.
French prosecutors suspected him and another of Leila Trabelsi’s nephews of having ordered the 2006 theft of a yacht belonging to a French investment banker that turned up in the Tunisian port of Sidi Bou Said. Still, a French judge ruled that the two Trabelsis could be tried at home, despite the fact that Tunisia was ruled by their uncle. It was not clear if any trial was ever held in Tunisia.
Some Tunisian media reports said Imed Trabelsi was recognized at the Tunis airport as he attempted to flee the country hours after the regime crumbled — and was attacked by an angry mob. Conflicting reports said he was stabbed by a fisherman in the town where he was mayor, an upscale coastal town near the capital. He reportedly died from his wounds at a Tunis military hospital over the weekend.
Associated Press
Elaine Ganley & Jenny Barchfield | January 19, 2011
Tunisians could not stand her even more than they could not stand him.
A man carrying goods from the house of Belhassen Trabelsi, the brother of the former president's wife, Leila Ben Ali, near the capital Tunis on Saturday. Tunisians could not stand Leila even more than they could not stand her husband. (AP Photo/Hassene Dridi)
The end of President Zine El Abidine Ben Ali’s iron-fisted, 23-year rule brought joy to many ordinary people in this North African nation — and they were especially elated at the prospect of life without his wife and her rapacious family.
The clan of former first lady Leila Trabelsi, a one-time hairdresser who rose to become Tunisia’s most influential woman, was widely despised as the ultimate symbol of corruption and excess.
Leila and her 10 siblings are said to have operated like a mafia, extorting money from shop owners, demanding a stake in businesses large and small, and divvying up plum concessions among themselves.
Their control over the North African country’s economy was vast. The Trabelsi and Ben Ali families were said to have a stake in Tunisian banks and airlines, car dealerships, Internet providers, radio and television stations, industry and retailers.
And when mass protests forced Ben Ali to flee last week to Saudi Arabia, his peoples’ pent-up rage was directed more at Leila’s side of the family than at her husband and his authoritarian regime.
Retribution was swift. Within a day of Ben Ali’s departure, many of the sumptuous villas and businesses belonging to the Trabelsis were pillaged and burned, and some reports said one prominent family member was killed by an angry mob.
A Tunis Air pilot who refused to take off with five fleeing family members on board has become a national hero.
A branch of Zeitouna Bank in Tunis founded by Ben Ali’s son-in-law was torched, as were vehicles made by the car brands he distributed, including Kia, Fiat and Porsche.
The Trabelsis “are thieves, tricksters and even killers,” raged Tunis resident Mantasser Ben Mabrouk. “Their only goal was to make money in whatever way they could.”
His friend, Mohamed Gaddahi, agreed, laying — as many here do — much of the blame for the regime’s abuses squarely on the Trabelsis. “The president did lots of good, but the family did lots of harm to Tunisia,” he said.
A lack of jobs in this highly educated nation fueled the month of popular protests that toppled Ben Ali. The uprising began in December after a despairing university graduate who sold fruits and vegetables without a permit set himself on fire and died because police confiscated his goods.
The co-author of a book on Leila Trabelsi, “The Regent of Carthage,” says the Trabelsis played an “absolutely capital” role in the fall of the regime.
“Tunisians were absolutely aware of what they were up to and they got to a point where they were sick and tired of their behavior,” author Catherine Graciet said. Still, she noted that “we can’t put all the blame on the Trabelsis, because it was Ben Ali himself who allowed them to act that way.”
Leila Trabelsi was born in 1957 — the fifth of 11 children of a dried fruits vendor and a housewife, according to Graciet’s book.
After working as a hairdresser and having a short-lived first marriage, Trabelsi married Ben Ali in 1992, five years after the bloodless palace coup in which he replaced aging independence hero Habib Bourguiba as president.
The marriage — which was also Ben Ali’s second — catapulted the once-modest Trabelsi clan to national prominence.
Her oldest brother, Belhassen, known as the clan chieftain, is said to have ruled over the family’s many mafia-style rackets.
Her nephew, Imed Trabelsi, was reputed to be the spoiled brat of the family and the former first lady’s favorite, according to the book. Known as a playboy, he enjoyed a jet-set lifestyle, complete with a garage full of sports cars and yachts.
French prosecutors suspected him and another of Leila Trabelsi’s nephews of having ordered the 2006 theft of a yacht belonging to a French investment banker that turned up in the Tunisian port of Sidi Bou Said. Still, a French judge ruled that the two Trabelsis could be tried at home, despite the fact that Tunisia was ruled by their uncle. It was not clear if any trial was ever held in Tunisia.
Some Tunisian media reports said Imed Trabelsi was recognized at the Tunis airport as he attempted to flee the country hours after the regime crumbled — and was attacked by an angry mob. Conflicting reports said he was stabbed by a fisherman in the town where he was mayor, an upscale coastal town near the capital. He reportedly died from his wounds at a Tunis military hospital over the weekend.
Associated Press
