Former Tunisian president Zine El Abidine Ben Ali, the first leader toppled in the Arab Spring uprisings, has denied all charges against him on the eve of his trial in absentia back home. Ben Ali "hopes with all his heart that Tunisia will overcome its current chaos and darkness and continue its path to progress," he added. Ben Ali, whose trial by a criminal court begins in Tunis on Monday, "strongly denies all charges they are trying to press as he never possessed the sums of money they claimed to have found in his office," his Beirut-based lawyer Akram Azoury said in a statement released Sunday. The former strongman, who fled to Saudi Arabia on January 14 in the face of a popular uprising against his 23-year rule, is to be tried in absentia by a criminal court over some 93 cases against his entourage. Of the 93 charges Ben Ali and his inner circle now face, 35 will be referred to the military court, justice ministry spokesman Kadhem Zine El Abidine.

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