"Tired of being made a sacrificial lamb by lies and injustice, President Ben Ali has exceptionally dropped his discretion," Jean-Yves Le Borgne, who represents the former leader in France, said in a statement to AFP.
Ben Ali fled Tunisia in January following a revolt against his 23-year rule and is thought to be in Saudi Arabia. Family members say he suffered a stroke in February and he has made no public appearances.
Tunisia's new authorities are preparing to try him and his wife Leila Trabelsi on drugs, guns and graft charges in absentia.
The French statement represents the first time the 74-year-old leader has spoken out since fleeing Tunis, even indirectly, and is the first sign he plans to fight the various legal challenges hanging over him.
"The searches conducted in his official and personal offices are just stage-dressing designed to discredit him," Le Borgne alleged.
"The case that Tunisia is building against him is nothing but a masquerade which serves no purpose other than to mark a symbolic break with the past."
The French lawyer told AFP he was working alongside Ben Ali's main counsel, the renowned Lebanese jurist Akram Azouri, to represent his client's interests in Paris, capital of Tunisia's former colonial power.
But he insisted that reports that the ousted strongman has significant assets in France are false, declaring that he has "no real estate, no bank accounts in France and none in any other foreign country." » | Agence France Presse | Monday, June 06, 2011
