Reuters
Combination picture from file photos shows Tunisia's President Zine Abidine Ben Ali and Tunisia's Interior Minister Rafik Belhaj Kacem in Tunis in 2009.
By msnbc.com and news services
A Tunisian court sentenced ousted leader Zine Abidine Ben Ali's interior minister and seven of his security chiefs to up to 15 years in jail on Wednesday over the killing of hundreds of protesters in the central towns where the Arab Spring began.
Former Interior Minister Rafik Belhaj Kacem and the security chiefs are the first senior officials to be convicted for the deaths of more than 300 people in last year's uprising.
The military court judge also sentenced Ben Ali to life in jail over his role in the deaths, Reuters reported, but the former strongman fled to Saudi Arabia as protests swept Tunisia on Jan. 14, 2011.
He is unlikely to be extradited soon as Saudis have refused to send him back. Prosecutors had sought the death penalty for Ben Ali, AFP reported.
A separate military court also sentenced Ben Ali in absentia to 20 years for inciting violence and murder, BBC reported.
Tunisia declares curfew after riots
"The verdict is unjust. The sentences are light, these sentences have been affected by political pressure. The court has fallen into a trap," Chardedine Glail, the lawyer representing the families of the victims, told Reuters.
"How can Ben Ali get life when he is charged with a role in the deaths whereas Kacem gets 12 years when he is charged with killing," she said.
The sentence comes as the capital Tunis is seeing some of the worst confrontations since last year's revolt ousted Ben Ali and launched uprisings across the Arab world. Tuesday, protesters hurled petrol bombs at officers, blocked streets and set tires alight in the capital's working class Ettadamen and Sidi Hussein districts.
The government has blamed ultra-conservative Salafi Islamists, who were angered by an art exhibition they say insults Muslims.
Reuters contributed to this report.
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