Keypoints:
- Mauritania court hands Abdel Aziz 15-year sentence
- Ex-president found guilty of corruption and abuse of power
- Defence to appeal ruling at Supreme Court
MAURITANIA’S former president, Mohamed Ould Abdel Aziz, has been sentenced to 15 years in prison after a Nouakchott court found him guilty of corruption, abuse of power, and illicit enrichment.
The ruling, issued on Wednesday, followed appeals by both the state and the defence against an earlier five-year sentence handed down in 2023. Prosecutors had called for a stiffer penalty, while Abdel Aziz’s legal team sought to overturn the conviction entirely.
As reported by Reuters, the court concluded that Abdel Aziz, who ruled the West African nation for a decade after seizing power in a 2008 coup, bore full responsibility for economic crimes committed during his presidency.
Coup leader turned elected president
Abdel Aziz came to power in 2008 and won presidential elections in 2009 and 2014. During his time in office, he positioned Mauritania as a key ally of the West in fighting Islamist militancy in the Sahel.
He voluntarily stepped down after the 2019 election, which brought Mohamed Ould Ghazouani — once considered his protégé — to power. But the relationship soon soured, and Ghazouani’s administration later led a parliamentary effort to bring charges against his predecessor.
In December 2023, a Mauritanian court found Abdel Aziz guilty and sentenced him to five years. Both the prosecution and the defence appealed — the former arguing the sentence was too lenient, the latter challenging the court’s jurisdiction, claiming only a high court of justice could try a former head of state.
Legal teams split on ruling
Following the fresh judgment, Abdel Aziz’s lawyer, Mohameden Ichidou, told Reuters that the defence would appeal to the Supreme Court, calling the decision politically motivated.
‘It is a decision that reflects the pressure the executive branch exerts on the judiciary,’ Ichidou said.
However, prosecution lawyer Brahim Ebety praised the outcome, stating: ‘All the evidence has established that the former president, who single-handedly ruled the entire country, is the perpetrator of illicit enrichment, abuse of power, and money laundering.’
Landmark moment for Mauritanian justice
The revised sentence makes Abdel Aziz one of the few African leaders to be convicted and jailed for corruption after leaving office. While an appeal is pending, the case is widely seen as a landmark moment in Mauritania’s battle against entrenched political corruption.
