Belhassen Trabelsi (; born 5 November 1962) is a Tunisian businessman. He is the brother of

Leïla Ben Ali Leïla Ben Ali (Tunisian Arabic: ), (), born 14 October 1956) is the widow of Zine El Abidine Ben Ali, the President of Tunisia from 1987 to 2011, whom she married in 1992. Leïla Ben Ali was the president of the Arab Women Organization

, wife of former President Zine El Abidine Ben Ali.Robin Wigglesworth, 'US warns of ‘flow of illicit assets’ from Tunisia', 20 January 2011, ''

Financial Times The ''Financial Times'' (''FT'') is a British daily newspaper printed in broadsheet and also published digitally that focuses on business and economic Current affairs (news format), current affairs. Based in London, the paper is owned by a Jap ...

'

/ref>

Career

He sat on the Board of Banque de Tunisie. He owned 65% of KoralBlue Airlines. He also owned the Groupe Karthago, including Karthago Airlines and Kathago Hotels.Roulah Kalaf, 'Looters strip homes of Ben Ali relatives', ''

'', 16 January 201

/ref> He became the CEO of Nouvelair in 2008. He was a senior official in the now defunct Constitutional Democratic Rally. Rumors were widespread about his arrest in Tunisia on 14 January 2011, as he was trying to flee

Tunisia Tunisia, officially the Republic of Tunisia, is a country in the Maghreb region of North Africa. It is bordered by Algeria to the west and southwest, Libya to the southeast, and the Mediterranean Sea to the north and east. Tunisia also shares m ...

and meet with family members in

Lyon Lyon (Franco-Provençal: ''Liyon'') is a city in France. It is located at the confluence of the rivers Rhône and Saône, to the northwest of the French Alps, southeast of Paris, north of Marseille, southwest of Geneva, Switzerland, north ...

, France. His house in La Soukra, away from

Tunis Tunis (, ') is the capital city, capital and largest city of Tunisia. The greater metropolitan area of Tunis, often referred to as "Grand Tunis", has about 2,700,000 inhabitants. , it is the third-largest city in the Maghreb region (after Casabl ...

, has been looted. However, he later escaped to

Montreal Montreal is the List of towns in Quebec, largest city in the Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Quebec, the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, second-largest in Canada, and the List of North American cit ...

, Canada. On 28 January 2011, Canadian foreign affairs minister

Lawrence Cannon Lawrence Cannon, (born December 6, 1947) is a Canadian politician from Quebec and Prime Minister Stephen Harper's former Quebec lieutenant. In early 2006, he was made the Minister of Transport. On October 30, 2008, he relinquished oversight ...

was quoted as having said that Trabelsi was no longer welcome in Canada and was to be arrested. However, Cannon also went on to say that Trabelsi has applied for refugee status and is therefore entitled to 'due process' under Canadian law, which could take years to settle. In May 2016, Belhassen Trabelsi was found to be missing by Canadian authorities. He was scheduled to be deported to Tunisia the following day, on 31 May 2016, to start the arbitration process with the Tunisian Truth and Dignity Commission. In 2019, Belhassen Trabelsi was arrested in

Marseille Marseille (; ; see #Name, below) is a city in southern France, the Prefectures in France, prefecture of the Departments of France, department of Bouches-du-Rhône and of the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur Regions of France, region. Situated in the ...

, France, due to his illegal entry and money laundering, then he was released on a bail. In June 2020, a court in

Aix-en-Provence Aix-en-Provence, or simply Aix, is a List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, city and Communes of France, commune in southern France, about north of Marseille. A former capital of Provence, it is the Subprefectures in France, s ...

demanded to hand him over to Tunisian authorities. In January 2021, the Investigation Chamber of the Aix-en-Provence Court of Appeal rejected Tunisia's request to extradite Belhassen Trabelsi. In its judgment, the Court noted not only Belhassen Trabelsi's age and state of health, but also "a real risk of inhuman and degrading treatment for Belhassen Trabelsi and of inadequate controls in the event of ill-treatment in detention".

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Trabelsi, Belhassen 1962 births Living people Tunisian businesspeople Businesspeople from Tunis