Zine El Abidine Ben Ali to execute Islamic fundamentalists. SISMI's action did not have the consent of René Imbot, head of the French secret service, and the USA allegedly was not informed. According to Martini, the SISMI did not have an operational role in Ben Ali's rise to power, but organised a move to support his new government politically and economically, preventing Tunisia from falling into an open confrontation with fundamentalists, as happened in Algeria in the following years. Ben Ali initially promised a more democratic way of ruling the country than had prevailed under Bourguiba. One of his first acts upon taking office was
Timeline of the Arab Spring former Egyptian president Hosni Mubarak was sentenced to life in prison, by an Egyptian court. On 13 June, the former Tunisian president Zine El Abidine Ben Ali was sentenced to prison, by a Tunisian court. On 16th & 17th June, the Egyptian people voted in the 2nd round of a presidential run-off election, in which Mohammed Morsi received the most votes. On 24 June 2012, Egypt's election commission announced that Muslim Brotherhood candidate Mohammed Morsi had won Egypt's presidential runoff. Morsi won by a narrow margin over Ahmed Shafiq, the last prime minister under deposed leader Hosni Mubarak. The commission