2023-10-24 16:59:57
MAURITANIA-POLITICS-TRIAL-CORRUPTION, PREV
Mauritania: 20 years in prison required against ex-President Aziz at his trial
He is OLD SADI
NOUAKCHOTT, Oct 24, 2023 – The prosecutor on Tuesday requested 20 years in prison against former Mauritanian president Mohamed Ould Abdel Aziz, on trial since January 2023 in Nouakchott for having abused his power in order to amass an immense fortune.
“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.
Aziz, 66, listened without flinching to the requisitions made against him. From 2008 to 2019, Aziz led this pivotal country between North Africa and sub-Saharan Africa, previously shaken by coups d’état and jihadist actions but returned to stability under his leadership when unrest was gaining ground in the region.
– “Illicit enrichment” –
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”.
Mohamed Ould Abdel Aziz, son of a trader, would have built up assets and capital estimated at 67 million euros at the 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 sentences of 10 years in prison against the two former prime ministers and two ministers, as well as the confiscation of their property.
He requested five years in prison against the other defendants.
After more than ten years at the head of this vast and poor Sahelian country of 4.5 million inhabitants, Mr. Aziz experienced a descent into hell under his successor Mohamed Ould Cheikh El Ghazouani, his former partner in the coup. State which brought him to power in 2008, his former chief of staff and former Minister of Defense.
Aziz had prepared the accession of Mr. Ghazouani, one of his most faithful companions, to the presidency and had given way to him after elections, in the first transition not imposed by force in a subscribing country to coups d’état since independence.
Mr. 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.
With TASS
#Mauritania #years #prison #required #exPresident #Aziz #trial #AIB