The immediate past president of Mauritania, Mohamed Ould Abdel Aziz has pleaded not guilty to charges of illicit enrichment on which he began to be questioned by a Nouakchott court.
The nation’s embattled former leader faces charges of “abuse of office”, “influence peddling”, illicit enrichment” and “money laundering” along with two former prime ministers, former ministers, and businessmen.
It could be recalled that the 66-year-old man took the reins of Mauritania following a coup in 2008 before being elected the following year and reelected in 2014.
In his defense, Aziz claimed he is “the victim of a plot” hatched by people who opposed him during his tenure.
The former Mauritania’s number one man challenged the charges as being “baseless”, putting forward the Constitution, which he said prohibits trying a president for acts committed in office.
Reports have it that since the opening of the trial on January 25, it has been a series of arguments about the court’s jurisdiction, whether or not to maintain Aziz and his 10 co-accused in detention, and the rights of the defense.
Recall that in February, the court decided not to rule on challenges to its jurisdiction until the end of the proceedings.
Aziz was the 8th President of Mauritania, in office from 2009 to 2019. A career soldier and high-ranking officer, he was a leading figure in the August 2005 coup that deposed President Maaouya Ould Sid’Ahmed Taya, and in August 2008 he led another coup, which toppled President Sidi Ould Cheikh Abdallahi.
Following the 2008 coup, Abdel Aziz became President of the High Council of State as part of what was described as a political transition leading to a new election.
He resigned from that post in April 2009 in order to stand as a candidate in the July 2009 presidential election, which he won. He was sworn in on 5 August 2009.
He was subsequently re-elected in 2014, then did not seek re-election in 2019. He was succeeded by Mohamed Ould Ghazouani, who assumed office on 1 August 2019.
