A Tunisian military court sentenced former President Zine El Abidine Ben Ali to another life term in absentia on charges of voluntary manslaughter and attempted manslaughter on Tuesday morning, Shems FM reported.

It is the third time the former president is sentenced to a life sentence on charges of manslaughter against protesters during the upheavals that rocked the North African nation in December 2010 and January 2011.

Ben Ali's former interior minister Rafik Haj Kacem was sentenced to 10 years in prison while his former chief of security, Ali Seriaty was acquitted of the charges.

The family of the man who was killed during the protests, as well as two people who were injured, will receive a compensation varying from 12,000 to 100,000 Tunisian dinars (roughly the equivalent respectively of 8,000 US dollars and 70,000 dollars).

Ben Ali who ruled Tunisia for 21 years, fled the country on January 14, 2011. Since then, he has been living in Saudi Arabia which granted him asylum.