Eleven years to the day after the departure of former Tunisian dictator Zine el-Abidine Ben Ali, which kicked off the Arab Spring, the BBC on Friday aired recordings made on the plane carrying the ousted leader into exile in Saudi Arabia after 23 years in power.
He had once considered turning around.
Driven out by his people, he never set foot on Tunisian soil again.
The BBC says it had the recordings it obtained reviewed by experts who found "no evidence of tampering or manipulation".
Secret audio sheds light on toppled Tunisian dictator's frantic last hours https://t.co/NgSxeMmdoZ
— BBC News (World) (@BBCWorld) January 14, 2022
The Tunisian revolution began on December 17, 2010, the day of the self-immolation by fire of Mohamed Bouazizi, a street vendor exasperated by poverty and police humiliation.
Read alsoChronology: the 30 days that rocked Tunisia
In one of the recordings, a voice portrayed as that of Ben Ali can be heard chatting with one of his relatives on December 13, 2011, shortly after giving a speech to the nation.
This relative, who would be the businessman Tarek ben Ammar, congratulates him on his speech while the soon-to-be-deposed president believes that it lacked "fluidity".
“Things are not looking good”
In the other recordings, made on January 14, 2011, Ben Ali, from the plane that transports him with his clan to Saudi Arabia, discusses in turn with three interlocutors, including the Minister of Defense at the time Ridha Grira .
When the latter informs him that an interim president has been appointed, Ben Ali replies that he will be back in the country “in a few hours”.
Ben Ali then asks a relative, Kamal Eltief, on the phone if he “advises him to come back now or not”.
"Things are not looking good," the latter finally replied.
Ben Ali asks the same question to Rachid Ammar, head of the army at the time, who replies: “When we see that you can come back, we will let you know, Mr. President”.
A thousand demonstrators in Tunis
Ben Ali finally died in exile in Saudi Arabia in September 2019. The 11th anniversary of his fall comes against the backdrop of a deep crisis in Tunisia since President Kais Saied assumed full power in July, raising fears of the return of authoritarian power in the cradle of the Arab Spring.
Several hundred people thus defied on Friday in Tunis an important police force and the ban on demonstrations.
“Down with the coup, the people want an end to the coup,” shouted the demonstrators gathered on Avenue Mohamed V in downtown Tunis.
According to AFP journalists on the spot, their number gradually increased to a thousand, before they dispersed into several groups.
The demonstration was suppressed this Friday in Tunis.
AFP/FETHI BELAID.
AFP or licensors
Demonstrators who succeeded in breaking a police cordon were dispersed with truncheons and tear gas and with jets of dirty water.
The security forces carried out arrests during the scenes of rare violence in Tunis.