Ali Laarayedh under President Habib Bourguiba, he was sentenced to fifteen years in prison under President Zine El Abidine Ben Ali, during which time he suffered torture. He was, among other techniques, threatened with HIV transfusion. His wife, Wided Lagha, was sexually abused and videotaped by officials from the Ministry of Interior. On 20 December 2011, after President Ben Ali was deposed, he joined the Jebali Cabinet as Minister of the Interior. He vowed to support peace in Tunisia, rejecting religious extremism, tribalism or regionalism. On 22 February 2013, Laarayedh was appointed as Prime Minister after Hamadi Jebali resigned from office. Laarayedh
Zine El Abidine Ben Ali month of protests against his rule, he was forced to flee to Saudi Arabia along with his wife Leïla Ben Ali and their three children. The interim Tunisian government asked for Interpol to issue an international arrest warrant, charging him for money laundering and drugs trafficking. A Tunisian court sentenced Ben Ali and his wife "in absentia" to 35 years in prison on 20 June 2011 on charges of theft and unlawful possession of cash and jewellery. In June 2012, a Tunisian court sentenced him "in absentia" to life imprisonment for inciting violence and murder and another life sentence by