Zine El Abidine Ben Ali: Safety Concerns

Belhassen Trabelsi Dept: Lawyers for Trabelsi, the brother-in-law of Zine el Abidine Ben Ali now believed to be in Saudi Arabia, and who is the subject of an international arrest warrant said their client did not appear because of safety concerns. However, the hearing proceeded without him, according to CBC. The billionaire businessman applied for political asylum in Canada but the federal government revoked his Canadian residency in January 2011 . It said the family had not been in the country for at least two out of the previous five years, a requirement to prove Canadian residency and immigration Canada's appeal division has taken the case of the Belhassen Trabelsi, a relative of the former Tunisian dictator, under advisement, despite the fact that he did not show up to his hearing Monday morning. A member of the Immigration and Refugee Board of Canada said she will consider the evidence and issue a written decision. (www.immigrantscanada.com). As reported in the news.