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Mauritania: court rejects conditional release of former president

November 2, 2021 at 11:49 am

Former Mauritania’s President Mohamed Ould Abdel Aziz in Conakry on March 11, 2015 [CELLOU BINANI/AFP/Getty Images]

The Mauritanian Court of Appeals in Nouakchott rejected a request on Monday for the conditional release of former President Mohamed Ould Abdel Aziz. The court cited a possible violation of the conditions of strict judicial oversight.

Local media said that the Mauritanian Public Prosecution had asked the investigating judge to place the former president in pre-trial detention because “he had failed to sign-in twice with the police.”

In March, the Mauritanian judiciary charged fourteen people with corruption, abuse of power, abuse of influence and illicit enrichment, including the former president and some of his aides and close associates. He was detained on 22 June on the same charges.

In August, the Supreme Court in the capital upheld a decision to imprison the former president and continue a probe focused on financial corruption during his time in office.

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