Zine El Abidine Ben Ali / Belhassen Trabelsi (Canada chapter)

For detailed background on the freeze of assets related to Mr. Ben Ali and associated individuals, see "Freezing Assets of Corrupt Foreign Officials (Tunisia and Egypt) Regulations, SOR/2011-78).

On March 3, 2011, Foreign Affairs Minister Lawrence Cannon and Minister of Justice Rob Nicholson "introduced legislation that would make it easier for the country to unilaterally freeze the assets of corrupt foreign leaders. The Freezing Assets of Corrupt Regimes Act comes amid pressure on the government to freeze assets belonging to ousted Tunisian leader Zine El Abidine Ben Ali and his family, some of whom have taken refuge in Canada." (Source:  Joe Palazzolo, "Canadian Gov’t Introduces Asset Freeze Bill," Wall Street Journal Corruption Currents blog, March 3, 2011.  Official text of the Bill C-61 can be accessed at website of the Parliament of Canada.  Please see source column for link.)   

According to the June 27, 2014 decision by the Canadian Federal Court in Montreal, "Zohra Djilani and Belhassen Trabelsi, and their four minor children, are subject to the Freezing Assets of Corrupt Foreign Officials (Tunisia and Egypt) Regulations, SOR/2011 (Regulations), which were adopted by the Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Trade (Minister) following the events of the Arab Spring. This is an application for judicial review of the Minister’s decision dated June 26, 2013, rejecting their application for a certificate filed pursuant to section 15 of the Freezing Assets of Corrupt Foreign Officials Act, SC 2001, c 10 (Act). By that application, the applicants were seeking to exclude the amount of $109,680 from the application of the Regulations to then transfer it into their lawyers’ trust accounts."(Source: Trabelsi Et al v. MSPPC, Et al, 2014 FC 631)

According to the Judgment, "In that new application, the applicants explained that the amount must be used to pay for certain living expenses (including counsel fees), but also luxury products and services such as a chauffeur for the family, a non-subsidized private English school for the couple’s children and their apartment, the monthly rent of which is $5,000" for period of six months beginning January 2013. The Court held that the Minister's decision was reasonable and rejected the application.  Mr. Trabelsi, wife and two children are seeking asylum in Canada. (Source: Belhassen Trabelsi Et al v. MSPPC, Et al, Case number IMM­3644­12, Docket as of February 5, 2015)

According to media reports, a Canadian Civil Society Organization has alleged that former president Ben Ali's son-in-law Sakhr El Makeri (married to daughter Nesrine) purchased, in 2008, a CAD 2.8 million mansion in Westmount section of Montreal.  Abdelijelil Ouanes, president of the Canadian Tunisian Chamber of Commerce in Montreal was quoted as saying that Ben Ali family members also held bank accounts in Canada.  (Source: Andrew Chung, "Montreal lawyer launches effort to freeze Ben Ali Assets," Thestar.com (Montreal), January 24, 2011).  According to a May 25, 2012 article in Foreign Policy, a $2.5 million mansion and $100,000 bank account belonging to the Ben Ali family have been "seized" in Canada.  (Source: Fadil Aliriza, "The godfathers of Tunis," Foreign Policy, May 25, 2012.)