NOUAKCHOTT (CONVERSEER) – Mauritania’s former president, Mohamed Ould Abdel Aziz, has been sentenced to 15 years in prison on corruption charges, following an appeal hearing in the capital, Nouakchott.
The appeal was filed by both the state and Aziz’s legal team, contesting a 2023 court ruling that had initially handed him a five-year sentence.
Abdel Aziz, who ruled the country for a decade after seizing power in a 2008 coup and winning an election in 2009, was found guilty of economic crimes, abuse of power, illicit enrichment, and money laundering.
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The 2023 verdict was deemed too lenient by the state, while Abdel Aziz’s lawyers argued that only a high court of justice had the authority to try a former head of state.
The latest ruling, which increases his sentence, has drawn criticism from his legal team, who plan to appeal to the Supreme Court.
Abdel Aziz’s presidency ended in 2019 with a peaceful transfer of power to Mohamed Ould Ghazouani, a former ally whose government later initiated the corruption charges.