By RFIPubliée le 19-09-2019Modified on 19-09-2019 at 23:54

Former Tunisian President Zine el-Abidine Ben Ali died on Thursday (September 19th) in Saudi Arabia. Aged 83, he fled the country in January 2011 during the revolution. RFI went to collect the reactions of Tunisian and Tunisians after the announcement of his death, when questions about the place of his burial how to ask.

In Carthage, near the presidential palace, Kamel Mansour does not keep a good memory of the arrival of Ben Ali . " I lived here and Ben Ali lived in his new palace. I remember the police watching, harassing you. Then the family of his wife and his entourage were really violent and unfair and corrupt . "

Further, in Tunis, in a popular café, Ahmed classifies the deceased to the rank of the other presidents: " Like Habib Bourguiba , like Béji Caïd Essebsi ".

A greater respect expressed by the elders who remember full refrigerators at the time, contrary to the current economic difficulties. Selma, a dynamic young executive, has no regrets. " I am totally indifferent to the death of Ben Ali. It does not represent anything for Tunisians. Maybe the fridges were full, but at the level of freedom, it was a joke, it was dictatorship. I think now we are a little hungry, the fridges are less full, but we are happier . "

Buried in Mecca or Tunis?

Many Tunisians want to turn the page, like Mounir Ritoun: " May God have pity on every person, whether bad or good. It's useless to go back on that. And life goes on . "

Some hours after the death of the former president , the question arises of his burial. On Saudi soil or in his homeland? It's up to the family to decide where their funeral will be. According to his lawyer, he expressed the wish to be buried in Mecca, Saudi Arabia. His council claims to have discussed it with him shortly before his death.

Earlier this month, the Tunisian prime minister said he was ready to welcome the deposed dictator at the end of his life so that he could die on Tunisian soil. The candidate's argument during the election campaign had not convinced. Several senior officials such as Presidential Advisor Firas Guefrech have requested that the funeral be held in Tunisia.

The government would be willing to accept a funeral in his homeland. The last word should come back to his wife and children. Some officials also mention a quick funeral in Saudi Arabia where he died, and later a repatriation of his remains.

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