PARIS // The deposed and exiled Tunisian autocrat Zine el Abidine Ben Ali broke his silence yesterday to denounce his imminent trial on corruption charges, according to his French lawyer.
"Tired of being made a sacrificial lamb by lies and injustice, president Ben Ali has exceptionally dropped his discretion," Jean-Yves Le Borgne, who represents the former leader in France, said in a statement.
Mr Ben Ali fled Tunisia in January after a revolt against his 23-year rule and is thought to be in Saudi Arabia. He has made no public appearances and family members say he suffered a stroke in February.
Tunisia's new authorities are preparing to try him and his wife Leila Trabelsi in absentia. They face drugs, guns and graft charges.
The French statement represents the first time the 74-year-old leader has spoken out since fleeing Tunis, even indirectly, and is the first sign that he plans to fight the legal challenges hanging over him.
"The searches conducted in his official and personal offices are just stage-dressing designed to discredit him," Mr Le Borgne alleged.
"The case that Tunisia is building against him is nothing but a masquerade which serves no purpose other than to mark a symbolic break with the past."
The French lawyer said that he was working alongside Mr Ben Ali's main counsel, the renowned Lebanese jurist Akram Azouri, to represent his client's interests in Paris, capital of Tunisia's former colonial power.
But he insisted that reports that Mr Ben Ali has significant assets in France are false, declaring that he has "no real estate, no bank accounts in France and none in any other foreign country".
Mr Le Borgne alleged that Mr Ben Ali was the victim of a smear campaign designed to make him and his family appear to be solely responsible for the problems that led to the Tunisian revolt.
But anti-graft watchdogs have lodged a formal complaint alleging looted Tunisian funds are being held in France and a formal inquiry has begun.
Back in Mr Ben Ali's homeland, the justice ministry said on Friday that trials could begin in the coming days or weeks.
"The investigating magistrates have completed their inquiries," said spokesman Kadhem Zine el Abidine, adding that the first charge relates to the discovery of weapons and drugs in the presidential palace at Carthage.
Almost two kilogrammes of narcotics, thought to be cannabis, were allegedly found in the former president's private office.
The second charge involves US$27 million (Dh99.1m) in cash discovered in Mr Ben Ali's palace in the Tunis suburb of Sidi Bou Said in February.
These finds form the basis of only two of a total of 88 ongoing inquiries into the first couple, their family and the regime's former ministers and officials, the spokesman said.
Authorities are also looking into cases of murder, abuse of power, trafficking of archaeological artefacts and money laundering.
Tunisia's interim administration has demanded the former president's extradition from Saudi Arabia, along with his wife, and several European countries have frozen assets belonging to Mr Ben Ali and his entourage.
Janet Yellen's Firsts
- In 2014, she became the first woman to lead the US Federal Reserve
- In 1999, she became the first female chair of the White House Council of Economic Advisers
Tuesday's fixtures
Kyrgyzstan v Qatar, 5.45pm
Mercer, the investment consulting arm of US services company Marsh & McLennan, expects its wealth division to at least double its assets under management (AUM) in the Middle East as wealth in the region continues to grow despite economic headwinds, a company official said.
Mercer Wealth, which globally has $160 billion in AUM, plans to boost its AUM in the region to $2-$3bn in the next 2-3 years from the present $1bn, said Yasir AbuShaban, a Dubai-based principal with Mercer Wealth.
“Within the next two to three years, we are looking at reaching $2 to $3 billion as a conservative estimate and we do see an opportunity to do so,” said Mr AbuShaban.
Mercer does not directly make investments, but allocates clients’ money they have discretion to, to professional asset managers. They also provide advice to clients.
“We have buying power. We can negotiate on their (client’s) behalf with asset managers to provide them lower fees than they otherwise would have to get on their own,” he added.
Mercer Wealth’s clients include sovereign wealth funds, family offices, and insurance companies among others.
From its office in Dubai, Mercer also looks after Africa, India and Turkey, where they also see opportunity for growth.
Wealth creation in Middle East and Africa (MEA) grew 8.5 per cent to $8.1 trillion last year from $7.5tn in 2015, higher than last year’s global average of 6 per cent and the second-highest growth in a region after Asia-Pacific which grew 9.9 per cent, according to consultancy Boston Consulting Group (BCG). In the region, where wealth grew just 1.9 per cent in 2015 compared with 2014, a pickup in oil prices has helped in wealth generation.
BCG is forecasting MEA wealth will rise to $12tn by 2021, growing at an annual average of 8 per cent.
Drivers of wealth generation in the region will be split evenly between new wealth creation and growth of performance of existing assets, according to BCG.
Another general trend in the region is clients’ looking for a comprehensive approach to investing, according to Mr AbuShaban.
“Institutional investors or some of the families are seeing a slowdown in the available capital they have to invest and in that sense they are looking at optimizing the way they manage their portfolios and making sure they are not investing haphazardly and different parts of their investment are working together,” said Mr AbuShaban.
Some clients also have a higher appetite for risk, given the low interest-rate environment that does not provide enough yield for some institutional investors. These clients are keen to invest in illiquid assets, such as private equity and infrastructure.
“What we have seen is a desire for higher returns in what has been a low-return environment specifically in various fixed income or bonds,” he said.
“In this environment, we have seen a de facto increase in the risk that clients are taking in things like illiquid investments, private equity investments, infrastructure and private debt, those kind of investments were higher illiquidity results in incrementally higher returns.”
The Abu Dhabi Investment Authority, one of the largest sovereign wealth funds, said in its 2016 report that has gradually increased its exposure in direct private equity and private credit transactions, mainly in Asian markets and especially in China and India. The authority’s private equity department focused on structured equities owing to “their defensive characteristics.”
Milestones on the road to union
1970
October 26: Bahrain withdraws from a proposal to create a federation of nine with the seven Trucial States and Qatar.
December: Ahmed Al Suwaidi visits New York to discuss potential UN membership.
1971
March 1: Alex Douglas Hume, Conservative foreign secretary confirms that Britain will leave the Gulf and “strongly supports” the creation of a Union of Arab Emirates.
July 12: Historic meeting at which Sheikh Zayed and Sheikh Rashid make a binding agreement to create what will become the UAE.
July 18: It is announced that the UAE will be formed from six emirates, with a proposed constitution signed. RAK is not yet part of the agreement.
August 6: The fifth anniversary of Sheikh Zayed becoming Ruler of Abu Dhabi, with official celebrations deferred until later in the year.
August 15: Bahrain becomes independent.
September 3: Qatar becomes independent.
November 23-25: Meeting with Sheikh Zayed and Sheikh Rashid and senior British officials to fix December 2 as date of creation of the UAE.
November 29: At 5.30pm Iranian forces seize the Greater and Lesser Tunbs by force.
November 30: Despite a power sharing agreement, Tehran takes full control of Abu Musa.
November 31: UK officials visit all six participating Emirates to formally end the Trucial States treaties
December 2: 11am, Dubai. New Supreme Council formally elects Sheikh Zayed as President. Treaty of Friendship signed with the UK. 11.30am. Flag raising ceremony at Union House and Al Manhal Palace in Abu Dhabi witnessed by Sheikh Khalifa, then Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi.
December 6: Arab League formally admits the UAE. The first British Ambassador presents his credentials to Sheikh Zayed.
December 9: UAE joins the United Nations.
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