Leïla Ben Ali

Who is Leïla Ben Ali?

Leïla Ben Ali, is the wife of Zine El Abidine Ben Ali, the former president of the Tunisian Republic. She was the president of the defunct Arab Women Organization and chair of the Basma Association, a charitable organization working to secure employment for the disabled. In July 2010, Mrs. Ben Ali founded the extinct SAIDA, to improve care for cancer patients in Tunisia. During the Tunisian revolution in 2010/11, she fled with her husband and three children into exile in Saudi Arabia. During her time as First Lady of Tunisia, she is believed of having enriched herself and her family through gross corruption and embezzlement of state money to finance a lavish lifestyle, factors which contributed to the protests against the regime of Ben Ali at the end of 2010. She is currently wanted by Interpol on behest of the Tunisian judiciary for high treason and money laundering.