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The trial of former Mauritanian President Mohammed Old Abdel Aziz opens in Nouakchott on Wednesday, presenting an exceptional image of the former head of state imprisoned in a cage-like box on charges of illegal wealth. was done.
From 2008 to 2019, the man who led this largely desert nation of 4.5 million people, twice the size of France, tried to abuse his power to make a fortune, but stood up. I waved when my name was called. In the front row he was attended by 10 defendants.
Former presidents, prime ministers, ministers and businessmen have been charged with “illegal enrichment,” “abuse of power,” “influence peddling,” or “money laundering,” for unknown periods. Aziz, 66, denies the facts and cries a conspiracy to oust him from politics.
Wearing a white boo-boo, a surgical mask that hides part of his bald head and a thin mustache, Aziz is the president’s attempt to stop chaos in the setup and find space for hundreds on a concrete bench. I silently obeyed the endless effort. So lawyers attended huge modern courtrooms, and the bunker-like atmosphere sank into darkness.
These delays, once shaken by coups and jihadist activism beyond this vital country between the Maghreb and sub-Saharan Africa, stabilized when trouble broke out under Aziz. Including that it was brewed in a region that does not detract from the extraordinary nature of the moment.
“It is the first time in the history of Mauritania, perhaps even in the history of the Arab world, that a former president has explained his wealth.”
Aziz is one of the few former heads of state to be held accountable for how he made his fortune while in power. Most of his peers on trial in national or international courts are on trial for blood crimes.
-Please return the money-
“All the people in the box have enriched themselves using state names, state offices, especially Mr. Aziz,” said President Eveti.
Several Mauritanians interviewed by AFP hope the trial will set an example in a country ranked 140 out of 180 by anti-corruption group Transparency International.
Perhaps unique, the moment may never be captured in a photograph. They laboriously filtered the entrance and had the lawyers searched and enraged.
Authorities had hundreds of police officers surround the compound, but there was no clear indication that the threat, whether protested by Aziz’s supporters or not, should be averted.
Dozens of people gathered outside the palace before the trial, some supporting Mr Aziz, others demanding he “give back the money” with placards.
Known to be belligerent, calculating and unpredictable, Aziz’s ability to do harm has been the subject of speculation, but he is now described as politically isolated. often portrayed.
He has been in constant denial ever since the screws started getting tighter in 2019. It was months after the election that one of his most loyal companions, Mohammed Urd Sheikh He El He was Ghazani’s former Chief of Staff, was sworn in as the first president. It is not a forced transition in a coup-prone country since independence.
– Revisionism” –
Aziz himself came to power in 2008 through an insurgency, was elected president in 2009, and was re-elected in 2014.
Aziz’s daughter Asma told AFP that Aziz was “tired”. She said Tuesday night she had been warned by the former president’s cardiologist that he had fallen ill after being detained. He was apprehensive about arrests and conditions that suggested his clients would not get a fair trial.
“This case is based on what appears to be political revisionist work,” he told AFP. Aziz’s successor has always denied any interference in the case.
None of the parties interviewed could say how long the trial would last.
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