Former Mauritanian President, Mohamed Ould Abdel Aziz, yesterday, was referred to court over alleged corruption charges, along with 11 others who were figures from his former regime.
Abdel Aziz’s lawyer, Mohameden Ould Icheddou, told Anadolu Agency that that the examining magistrate had referred the 12 defendants to the “criminal court tasked with judging crimes of corruption”, adding that a trial date was “yet to be announced”.
He added that fourteen defendants were “initially charged”, noting that the charges against the former Finance Minister, Mokhtar Ould Ajayi, and the ex-chief of the national mining company, SNIM, Hasna Ould Alay, were “dropped”.
The ex-President’s first probe started in March 2021, when the Public Prosecutor charged him with “corruption, money laundering, illicit enrichment and abuse of influence”.
Abdel Aziz, who came to power in a coup in 2008, stepped down in 2019 after two presidential terms, and was succeeded by a former General, Mohamed Ould Ghazouani.
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