Belhassen Trabelsi and Zine El Abidine Ben Ali

Tunisia: Trabelsi is accused of looting Tunisia public treasury and faces a variety of criminal charges in his homeland, according to Toronto Star. In a 35-page ruling made public Monday, the board said there is reason to believe that Trabelsi committed serious non-political crimes in Tunisia. Belhassen Trabelsi, the brother-in-law of former Tunisian president Zine El Abidine Ben Ali, was seeking status in Canada, arguing he faces an uncertain future if returned home. The panel is of the opinion that there are serious reasons for considering that the claimant . . . committed serious non political crimes, specifically fraud on the government, fraud and laundering proceeds of crime, the ruling reads. While the board said the majority of the evidence is circumstantial, the ruling noted it is the very nature of financial crimes. The ruling noted that these are serious crimes and in Canada, some of those same accusations carry sentences of more than 10 years upon conviction. (www.immigrantscanada.com). As reported in the news.