2023-10-24 15:09:31
Mauritania
Twenty years in prison required once morest ex-president Aziz
Indicted in March 2021, the former Mauritanian leader Mohamed Ould Abdel Aziz is notably accused of “illicit enrichment” by his country’s justice system.
PublishedOctober 24, 2023, 5:09 p.m.
Without denying being rich, the former president refused to explain the origin of his fortune.
The prosecutor on Tuesday requested 20 years in prison once morest the former Mauritanian president Mohamed son Abdel Azizon trial since January 2023, in Nouakchott, for having abused his power in order to amass an immense fortune.
“Illicit enrichment”
“All the elements in the hands of justice prove the constitution of a crime,” said magistrate Ahmed Ould Moustapha. “The accused Mohamed Ould Abdel Aziz has accumulated a very large fortune that his legal income cannot justify. He carried out commercial activities incompatible with his functions as President of the Republic. All this constitutes illicit enrichment condemned by law,” he said. He also called for the confiscation of the property of the former head of state. Mohamed Ould Abdel Aziz, 66, heard the requisitions once morest him without flinching.
Mohamed Ould Abdel Aziz led from 2008 to 2019 this pivotal country between North Africa and sub-Saharan Africa, previously shaken by coups and jihadist actions but returned to stability under his leadership when unrest gained ground in the region. He has responded since January 25 with ten other personalities, including two former Prime Ministers, former ministers and businessmen, heads of “illicit enrichment”, “abuse of functions”, “influence peddling” or “whitening”.
Heritage of 63 million francs
Mohamed Ould Abdel Aziz, son of a trader, would have built up assets and capital estimated at around 63 million francs at time of his indictment in March 2021. He is one of the rare former heads of state to answer before the courts for illicit enrichment in the exercise of power. His peers tried by national or international justice are mainly for blood crimes, such as, elsewhere in West Africa, the former Guinean dictator Moussa Dadis Camara, at the helm since September 2022.
Without denying that he is rich, the former president has refused to explain the origin of his fortune and calls it a conspiracy to exclude him from political life. During his indictment lasting approximately three hours, the prosecutor requested ten-year prison sentences once morest the two former prime ministers and two ministers, as well as the confiscation of their property. He requested five years in prison once morest the other defendants.
Descent into hell
After more than ten years at the head of this vast and poor Sahelian country of 4.5 million inhabitants, Mohamed Ould Abdel Aziz experienced a descent into hell under Son successeur Mohamed Ould Sheikh El Ghazouani, his former partner in the coup d’état which brought him to power in 2008, his former chief of staff and former Minister of Defense. Mohamed Ould Abdel Aziz had prepared the accession of Mohamed Ould Cheikh El Ghazouani, one of his most faithful companions, to the presidency and had given way to him following elections, in the first transition not imposed by the force in a country subscribed to coups d’état since independence. Mohamed Ould Abdel Aziz’s successor has always denied interference in the matter. Around forty defenders were to begin pleading this Tuesday. No indication was provided as to the date of the judgment.
(AFP)Show comments
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