Tunisia: Zine El Abidine Ben Ali - the Robber Baron of Tunisia

19 September 2019

Dictator, human rights abuser and a friend of the West: Ben Ali ruled Tunisia for more than 20 years. And he became the first despot to be deposed in the aftermath of the Arab Spring.

On December 17, 2010, Tunisian greengrocer Mohamed Bouazizi set fire to himself out of despair in his home town of Sidi Bouzid. Authorities had confiscated his wares, and Bouazizi was at his wit's end. Many Tunisians found themselves in a similarly dire economic situation, and after learning of Bouazizi's death, took to the streets. Tunisian police reacted with a wave of repression. But to no avail. The protest movement quickly spread across the country.

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