As the Arab world watched Hosni Mubarak’s trial last week, transfixed by the sight of Egypt’s longtime leader behind a courtroom cage, Tunisia quietly released its reviled former justice minister. The release came as Tunisians were still reeling from news that Saida Agreby, a high-profile figure in Tunisia’s old power elite accused of corruption, had fled to Paris without facing trial. Seven months after Zine Al-Abidine Ben Ali’s overthrow sparked the “Arab Spring” protests that have shaken the Arab world, Tunisians say they are still waiting for justice. Whereas Mubarak and his sons, Gamal and Alaa, appeared in an Egyptian court to face charges, Ben Ali and his wife, Leila Trabelsi, have refused to return from exile in Saudi Arabia.
They have been sentenced in absentia, frustrating Tunisians thirsty for accountability after 23 years of stifling political repression, rampant corruption and flagrant nepotism. There was no official explanation for the ex-justice minister’s release but his case has not been formally closed.