Mauritanian ex-president in court on graft charges
Former Mauritanian president Mohamed Ould Abdel Aziz appeared in court on November 13th to start his appeal against a jail sentence for abuse of power and embezzlement, according to the Arab Weekly and agencies.
Aziz, who ruled Mauritania from 2008 to 2019, was found guilty and sentenced to five years in jail last December, although his lawyers appealed the sentence. He has been in custody since he went on trial in January 2023, and appeared healthy at the hearing.
READ: Sudan extends opening of Adre border crossing for aid
A dozen senior officials and close friends sat with him in the dock, including two former prime ministers, on charges of either “illicit enrichment”, “abuse of office”, “influence peddling” or “money laundering”. Law enforcement kept his supporters who tried to approach the courthouse away.
It was estimated by investigators that Aziz had accumulated assets and capital worth $70 million over his more than a decade as president at the time of his indictment in March 2021.
READ: UNSC to propose resolution calling for “end of hostilities” in Sudan
He was excluded from June’s presidential election which was won by his former successor and right-hand man Mohamed Ould Cheikh El Ghazouani. The 2019 election marked Mauritania’s first transition between two elected presidents following decades of coups.
The Arab Weekly, Anadolu Agency
