Former Tunisian president Zine el-Abidine Ben Ali has decided to return the public money that he plundered during his rule of more than two decades. Returning swindled wealth needs a big heart and Ben Ali should be commended for it. It shows he is not a hardened criminal. Had he been one, he would have offered innumerable arguments with the help of his crooked and satanic lawyers. His lawyers too would have become billionaires by keeping him out of the reach of law.
After all, what compelled Ali to return the wealth? Did he want to set an example for other corrupt Muslim rulers who deprived their countries by making neat holes in the state coffers and depositing the loot in Swiss banks? That places Ali on a higher moral ground than rest of the ruling pirates who haven’t budged so far. Muslim rulers’ avarice for wealth is unmatched in the world. Maybe other leaders should take a leaf out of Ben Ali’s book too and return their ill-gotten gains.
DR A P SANGDIL
Oslo, Norway
