Tunisian ex-leader convicted in absentia
By Associated Press
Jun 20, 2011 2:31 PM CDT
A demonstrator, right, wears a poster showing Ben Ali next to an undentified lawyer in the Tunis Criminal Court which is hearing two embezzlement, money laundering and drug trafficking cases against Zine El Abidine Ben Ali , Tunisia's former autocratic ruler, whose ouster triggered a series of Arab...   (Associated Press)

Tunisia's former ruler and his wife have been convicted in absentia on embezzlement and other charges after$27 million (euro18.97 million) in jewels and public funds were found in one of his palaces.

They were sentenced to 35 years each in prison.

The conviction of Zine El Abidine Ben Ali and Leila Trabelsi followed a day-long trial before the Tunis criminal court. The couple went into exile on Jan. 14 in Saudi Arabia after a month-long uprising that sparked a string of other uprisings in the Arab world.