Tunisia’s ousted longtime dictator Zine El Abidine Ben Ali (file photo)

A Tunisian military court has sentenced Zine El Abidine Ben Ali to life in prison for the killings of protesters during last year’s popular revolution that ousted the longtime dictator.

The verdict was handed down in absentia on Wednesday after a six-month trial at the military court in the northwestern city of El Kef, about 170 kilometers (105 miles) west of the capital Tunis, AFP reported.

Prosecutors had demanded death penalty for Ben Ali, who is in Saudi Arabia with his wife since he fled Tunisia on January 14, 2011.

Earlier in the day, a military court in Tunis sentenced him in absentia to 20 years in prison on diverse charges including incitement to murder.

Ben Ali has already been sentenced to a total of more than 66 years in prison on a variety of other charges including drug trafficking and embezzlement.

According to United Nations figures, more than 300 people were killed and many others wounded in the former government crackdown on protests over corruption, unemployment, and high food prices.

Many of the victims died by live rounds fired by security forces during the January 2011 pro-democracy protests.

Saudi Arabia has refused to hand over Ben Ali and his wife to Tunisian authorities despite the fact that they are the subject to an international arrest warrant.

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Categories: Economic Exploitation, International, Tunisia, Workers Struggle