The BBC has obtained extraordinary recordings of what are believed to be phone calls made by the former Tunisian ruler, Zine al-Abidine Ben Ali, while he was flying out of the country in 2011.
These last moments show how his authority crumbled, sealing the fate of his government of 13 years and inspiring the wave of pro-democracy uprisings of the Arab Spring in the region.
The recordings, to which BBC News Arabic Documentaries had access, have been analyzed by experts forensic experts in audio, who found no evidence of manipulation.
Ben Ali died in exile in 2019, but the BBC showed the recordings to people who knew the individuals involved and believe that the voices are genuine, something that gives greater support to the authenticity of the s recordings. However, some of those involved adamantly deny their veracity.
If genuine, the recordings give an incredible glimpse of Ben Ali’s change of heart in the final hours of his rule, as begins to understand the true impact of the protests that hit his feared police state.
The speech
The recordings start on the night of of January of 2011.
The first is a call to a close confidant, believed to be Tarak Ben Ammar, a successful media mogul known for encouraging director George Lucas to shoot the first film of Star Wars in Tunisia.
Earlier that day, Ben Ali had made a speech televised to the nation, in an effort to quash the momentum of mass demonstrations.
Widespread discontent with the difficulties and decades of autocratic rule and corruption had erupted weeks earlier after a young street vendor, Mohamed Bouazizi, set himself on fire himself when officials prevented him from selling food in the town of Sidi Bouzid.
For him 13 January, near 23 people had died in the protests, which at that point were filling the streets of the capital.
But Ben Ali is quiet when Ben Ammar seems to overwhelm him with praise.
“You were wonderful, this is the Ben Ali we have been waiting for!”, says Ben Ammar on the recording.
Ben Ali sounds self-critical, saying that his speech lacked fluency, but his confidant reassures him.
“Not at all… It’s a historic comeback. You are a man of the people. You speak their language”, says his friend.
Ben Ali laughs with what sounds like relief.
But the speech addressed to the Tunisian public was clearly not enough. The next day, the protests intensify and threaten to invade the Ministry of the Interior.
Arrangements are made for Ben Ali’s family to take a flight to take her out of the country for her own safety, heading to Saudi Arabia, and he is convinced that the accompaniesne.
The content and times of the next recording place Ben Ali on this flight.
“Do you recommend I come back now?“
In the recordings, Ben Ali can be heard making a series of increasingly frantic calls to three people believed to be his minister of Ddefense, the head of the army, and another close confidant: Kamel Eltaief.
Start by asking someone we understand to be Defense Minister Ridha Grira about the situation on the ground in Tunisia.
Grira reveals to him that an interim president is now in place. Ben Ali asks him to repeat this information three times, before responding by saying that he will be back in the country “in a few hours”. Eltaief. Ben Ali tells Eltaief that the Minister of Defense assured him that events are under control.
In a concise manner, Eltaief corrects that assumption.
“No no no. The situation is changing rapidly and the army is not enough“, his friend tells him.
Ben Ali interrupts him to ask: “Do I do you recommend coming back now or not?” You have to repeat the question three times before Eltaief answers effectively.
“Things are not right”, Eltaief finally answers.
Ben Ali then makes a call to whom the BBC believes to be the head of the army, General Rachid Ammar. Ammar doesn’t seem to recognize the voice on the other end of the line. “I am the president”, Ben Ali has to tell him.
Ammar assures him that “everything is fine”. Once again, Ben Ali asks him the same question he asked Eltaief: if he should return to Tunisia at that very moment. Rachid tells him that it would be better if he waited “for a while”.
“When we see that he can come back, we will know, Mr. President”, Ammar tells Ben Ali.
He calls his defense minister again, asking if he should go home and this time, Grira is more direct telling him that “cannot guarantee his safety” if he does.
“ What have I done to the street?“
Just after midnight, President Ben Ali’s plane lands in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia. He orders the pilot to prepare for the return trip, and he and his family are escorted to King Faisal’s palace guesthouse.
But the pilot disobeys the order. He leaves Ben Ali and returns to Tunisia.
Waking up in Saudi Arabia the next morning, Ben Ali calls his defense minister again.
Grira admits that the administration has no control over what is happening in the streets and tells him that there is even talk of a coup by Estate.
Ben Ali brands it as an action of the “Islamists”, before speaking again of returning home.
Grira now seems to be honest with his boss.
“There is rage in the streets that I cannot describe no way”, says Grira.
He seems to want to be clear with the president, adding: “(I know story) so he can’t say I cheated on him and the decision is his”.
Ben Ali tries to defend his reputation: “What have I done to the street? I have served you!”
“I I am telling the situation, not (asking for) an explanation”, Grira replies.
The recordings
Within a few hours a new government was formed in Tunisia and many of the ministers , including Grira, kept their positions.
Ben Ali would never return to his homeland, staying in Jeddah until his death in 675 .
Defense Minister Ridha Grira and Army Chief Rachid Ammar refused to comment on the recordings when contacted by the BBC.
Ben Ali’s confidants, Kamel Eltaief and Tarek Ben Ammar, denied that the calls had taken place, while nter Ben Ammar added that he had not tried to reassure the president about his command.
The BBC has spent more than a year investigating the authenticity of the recordings. They have been analyzed by audio forensic experts in the UK and US, who looked for signs of tampering or editing or processing deep fake, that replicates voices artificially.
No found evidence of any type of manipulation.
The BBC also sought to confirm the identity of those in the calls reproducing excerpts relevant to individuals who know at least one of those apparently speaking on the recording.
Among those consulted are three of Ben Ali’s highest-level security officials, leaders of his political party and even an impersonator of the voice of the former president.
All those who were consulted were able to identify those who spoke in the recordings and did not report suspicions about their authenticity.
Other evidences also corroboratesn the background of these calls, including previous statements made by the Minister of Defense Grira and the army chief Ammar. According to these, they spoke with the president while he was on the plane. Ammar’s testimony was similar to the content of the call.
The recordings show how an autocrat who led a repressive and feared State during 23 years he was plunged into confusion and at the mercy of the instructions of his ministers in his last moments in power.
In 675 , during his exile in Saudi Arabia, Ben Ali was sentenced to life imprisonment in absentia for the death of protesters during the revolution.
Now you can receive notifications from BBC Mundo. Download our app and activate them so you don’t miss our best content.
- Do you already know our YouTube channel? Subscribe!