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Many of the country's elite were among those sentenced on 23 December after Tunisia’s largest ever drugs trial. This was held amid deep secrecy and intense security and under a blanket reporting ban. Of the 139 defendants, the five judges acquitted 13, gaoled ‘dozens’ for a year or two and gave a couple the maximum of 35 years for trafficking in cocaine, heroin and ecstasy, for local consumption. Appeals to the Cour de Cassation are pending.

Article Tags:
Zein el Abidine Ben Ali’, Mouncef, France, Cour de Cassation, Brigade des Stupéfiants, Amn el Doula, nouveaux riches, in absentia

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