Accused former president is prohibited from leaving Mauritania

Former president of Mauritania Mohamed Ould Abdel Aziz, who’s being tried for suspected corruption, claimed on Thursday that he had been prohibited from leaving the nation.

He went to the airport to journey on Wednesday however “was prevented from doing so by the political police, which stated it had acquired directions”, he stated on Fb.

The police acted “though I’m not topic to any judicial controls or some other measure that will forbid me to journey”, he added.

Abdel Aziz, who got here to energy in a coup in 2008, stepped down in 2019 after two presidential phrases and was succeeded by a former common, Mohamed Ould Ghazouani.

He and 11 different figures from his former regime have been charged for suspected corruption, cash laundering and illicit enrichment, courting from the time when he was in energy.

Their trial is because of begin on January 25, in keeping with a judicial supply.

“Simply two days in the past, an individual who was on the identical listing as me was in a position to journey,” Abdel Aziz stated in a video posted on his Fb web page.

“Evidently I’m being singled out for ill-treatment by this dishonest system, which is main the nation to catastrophe.”

A senior gendarmerie official, talking on situation of anonymity, stated Abdel Aziz’s passport was additionally confiscated on Wednesday.

Authorities spokesman Nany Ould Chrougha earlier Wednesday had instructed reporters that Abdel Aziz’s behaviour aimed to affect the case in opposition to him.

The inquiry into Abdel Aziz started shortly after he left workplace, beginning with a parliamentary investigation launched in August 2020.

The probe targeted on Mauritania’s oil revenues throughout his presidency, the sale of state belongings, the winding up of a public firm accountable for meals provides and the actions of a Chinese language fishing firm.

Abdel Aziz was charged in March 2021. He was positioned in custody three months later for allegedly breaching bail and disturbing public order, however was launched in January 2022 for well being causes.

Fellow defendants within the case embrace one among his sons-in-law, two former prime ministers and a number of other ex-ministers and businessmen.

Abdel Aziz says he’s the sufferer of score-settling by rivals. He argues that he has immunity from prosecution underneath the structure.