Story highlights
The former president is sentence in absentia
The trial relates to a 1991 coup attempt
He plans to appeal, official news agency says
CNN
—
A Tunisian military court has sentenced former President Zine el Abidine Ben Ali to five years in prison, the state-run Tunisian News Agency said Wednesday.
Ben Ali was sentenced in absentia late Tuesday for his role in a 1991 case in which 17 servicemen were accused of plotting a coup against his regime, the agency Tunis Afrique Presse said.
The defense plans to appeal, it added.