Congress for the Republic collective rights. The CPR called for renegotiating Tunisian commitments toward the European Union, for Tunisia to support the rights of national self-determination, in particular for the Palestinian people. It was ideologically heterogeneous, including social democrats, Arab nationalists, far-leftists, as well as Islamists. The unifiying point was their firm opposition to the regime of President Zine El Abidine Ben Ali. In 2002, during the Ben Ali presidency, the CPR was banned. Its leader Marzouki went into exile in Paris. However, the party continued a "de facto" existence, being run from France until 2011. Following the ouster of President Ben Ali in
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