Thousands of luxury items seized from Tunisia’s ousted ex-president Zine El Abidine Ben Ali have been put up for auction.
Supercars, antiques, art, jewellery and ornaments are among the items that are set to go under the hammer to raise cash for the government.
It is hoped the sale could raise up to 10m euro (£8.2m).
Government minister Tarek Dhyab said: “This is only 20 to 30% of (Ben Ali’s) possessions. I say poor Tunisia, it was controlled by a gang leader – not someone fit to lead a country.”
All of the money raised by the auction will be added to the government budget.
Ben Ali fled into exile in Saudi Arabia when protests swept Tunisia in early 2011, as the Arab Spring uprising gained momentum.
Protests erupted in Tunisia after the interim government’s decision to allow people from Ben Ali’s former ruling party RCD to stand in election in July.
Tunisian authorities say they want to try former President Zine al-Abidine Ben Ali on 18 different charges, including voluntary manslaughter and drug-trafficking.
Justice Minister Lazhar Karoui Chebbi said the charges were among 44 to be made against Mr Ben Ali, his family and some former ministers.
An international warrant for Mr Ben Ali’s arrest is in force.
He was ousted in January amid a popular uprising and fled to Saudi Arabia.
Authorities said at the time they had arrested 33 members of his family, reportedly on suspicion of plundering the country’s resources.
In an interview on state TV late on Wednesday, Mr Chebbi said 18 legal cases had been prepared against Mr Ben Ali, including ”conspiring against the state, voluntary manslaughter and drug use and trafficking”, reported Tap state news agency.
Mr Chebbi said authorities had issued a request to Interpol to freeze the assets of Mr Ben Ali and his family, and said a delegation was being sent to Interpol headquarters in Lyon, France, to try to speed up the enforcement of the request.
Mr Ben Ali is accused of ordering security forces to crack down on the revolt that began in mid-December.
The UN calculates 219 people died during the Tunisian uprising – including 72 in the country’s jails – a far higher toll than that provided by Tunisian authorities.
Caretaker authorities have appointed a new government and the notorious and extensive secret police service has been dissolved.
Correspondents say the authorities are under pressure to establish their legitimacy in the eyes of protesters.
Tunisian demonstrators have rallied outside the Saudi embassy in the capital Tunis to demand the extradition of ousted President Zine El Abidine Ben Ali from Saudi Arabia.
The Saudi embassy in Tunis witnessed around 300 peaceful protesters coming from the Friday prayers and demanding that Riyadh hand over Ben Ali to stand trial on corruption charges in his home country,
Arsalan Iftikhar, an International Human Rights lawyer and founder and managing editor of the global news portal, The Crescent Post, speaks to Al Jazeera on this issue.
In this exclusive interview with ZDF, Julian Assange talks about the early days of the Internet, the political awakening currently happening in the world, and how WikiLeaks and the Internet have helped to make that happen. He also discusses the impact WikiLeaks cables had on the revolutions in Tunisia and Egypt, and much more.
