Former Tunisian President Zine El Abidine Ben Ali and his wife Leila Trabelsi have been sentenced in absentia to 35 years each in prison. Tunisian television last evening said, the court in Tunis also fined the couple 91 million dinars. The trial examined the charges of theft, corruption and drug smuggling against the couple. Other charges included money laundering, possession of arms and archeological artifacts. Ben Ali fled to Saudi Arabia on January 14 amid popular protests against his 23-year rule. He also faces 182 charges in a military court, including voluntary manslaughter that may lead to death penalty under the Tunisian laws. A spokesman for the justice ministry said following the sentence, Tunisian judicial authorities will send another extradition request against the former president to the Saudi authorities.