Human rights in Tunisia who accept that, for as long as the majority opposes them, compromise is inevitable.” After the revolution, moreover, Tunisia became the first nation in the Arab world “to legally enshrine gender parity in the electoral rolls.” According to Freedom House, the October 2011 elections “represented a dramatic improvement in electoral freedoms and practices. Under the former regime of Zine el-Abidine Ben Ali, the cabinet, much of the legislature, and many regional officials had been appointed directly by the president. Elections were tightly controlled, and term limits were extended to allow Ben Ali to remain in power. By contrast, in the
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