Soufiene Ben Ali appears again before Beja court

Soufiene Ben Ali, nephew of the ousted president, appeared, on Tuesday, before the Court of First Instance of Beja where his lawyers presented receipts evidencing payment by their client of the amounts of the bad cheques for the complainants. A judgement was handed down, condemning the defendant to pay a fine equal to 20% of the value of issued cheques for the six complaints he was subject to. He should be kept in detention for other lawsuits filed against him. TAP local correspondent noted that the defendant appeared before court in an atmosphere marked by calm, contrarily to the previous hearings, a limited presence of the national security and army forces and citizens. The defence requested a non-suit, since the defendant was not able to benefit from his property which went into receivership, preventing him from honouring his debts. Soufiene Ben Ali had been sentenced to 15 years in prison by the Court of First Instance of Beja on June 21, 2011, following complaints for issuing bad cheques of a total value of 600,000 dinars. Complainants are, in particular, suppliers and farm owners.