Leila Trabelsi Tunis - Nébil Zaghdoud In her first interview with foreign media since she and her family escaped to Saudi Arabia on January 14, 2011, Leila Trabelsi, the wife of ousted Tunisian President Zine El Abidine Ben Ali, has said she is optimistic about Tunisia\'s future and that she was ready to appear before court on condition that the trial was \"not prejudiced\".
In an interview with French newspaper Aujourd\'hui en France, Trabelsi said she hoped her country would \"find its way to prosperity and progress\".
The former governor of Carthage denied that she had separated from her husband, adding that he was enjoying good health.
The newspaper published a photo of Trabelsi and Ben Ali, where they were dressed in white and she was wearing the veil (hijab) and eyeglasses, in addition to another photo of her using her computer and wearing hijab as well.
Trabelsi said her husband had asked her to send the Tunisians a message on his behalf saying: “I regret that Tunisians forget that through the 23 years of my governance I succeeded in making Tunisia a good example for many countries for what it had achieved...I helped improve  living standards and made Tunisia a modern state.”
Ben Ali expressed his hope that Tunisia will achieve more development, saying: “There is still room to implement more progress and freedom...I hope my country will offer me justice and remember the way we worked together. I have no aspirations except to maintain my dignity,” he added.
Trabelsi stated that she had not interfered in policy and was the “daughter of the people”, keen on charity and social work.
“God knows I did not mean to harm anyone. if I have, I hope they will forgive me.”
As for why she published a biography on her two weeks ago, the toppled president’s wife said: “I wanted to convey my part of the truth and respond to the misleading media campaign that made me the centre of attention of Tunisians and others without having the ability to defend myself.”
“We have lived a very bad period especially in light of the great public rage and false testimonies made against us,” she said.
Trabelsi insisted that major security officials orchestrated a plot that led to her husband\'s overthrow, exploiting the spontaneous demonstrations that took place in Tunisia after street vendor Mohamed Bouazizi set himself on fire on December 17, 2010.
She said: “These spontaneous marches were converted into demonstrations that participated in the destabilisation of the country through looting, sabotage, and burning of public and private institutions, plus orders given to security not to respond.”
She denied that her husband had given orders to shoot at demonstrators who called for the ousting of his regime, adding that she asked their lawyer to submit to the judiciary records of telephone calls that took place during the revolution between the president and the defence and interior ministers to reveal the truth. \"But the Ennahda Movement government still hinders this,\" she added, without adding details.