In a significant legal development, a Nouakchott court pronounced a five-year prison sentence on Monday, December 4, 2023, for former Mauritanian president Mohamed Ould Abdel Aziz. The trial, which commenced in January 2023, centered on allegations of Mr. Aziz abusing his authority for personal financial gain.
Mr. Aziz, 66, had been under trial alongside ten other individuals, including former prime ministers, ministers, and businessmen, facing charges encompassing “illicit enrichment,” “abuse of office,” “influence peddling,” and “money laundering.”
Following a period of deliberation conducted behind closed doors, the court ruled against Mr. Aziz on charges of illicit enrichment and money laundering exclusively. The verdict included the confiscation of assets acquired through actions falling under these two offenses, accompanied by the disqualification of Mr. Aziz from exercising his civil rights.
Despite the severity of the judgment, the former head of state expressed acceptance of the ruling without any visible reaction.
This conviction places Mr. Aziz among the few former African heads of state convicted of illicit enrichment while in office. Notably, Mr. Aziz, detained since January 24, 2023, continues to face legal consequences under the administration of his successor, Mohamed Ould Cheikh El Ghazouani, a key ally from their shared past.
Mr. Ghazouani, who played a pivotal role in the coup that brought Mr. Aziz to power in 2008 and served as his Chief of Staff and Minister of Defense, succeeded him in 2019 after an electoral transition, marking a rare peaceful transfer of power in the country.
While several defendants were acquitted, Mr. Aziz received the harshest sentence, with the court imposing various penalties on others, including a two-year suspended sentence and six months’ imprisonment.
Expressing discontent with the outcome, one of Mr. Aziz’s defense lawyers, Mohameden Ould Icheddou, labeled the trial as “very political in its verdict,” with plans to appeal the decision. Another counsel, Mohamed Moloud Khyar, vowed to challenge the perceived inequity of the verdict.
Until 2019, Mr. Aziz led Mauritania through a period of stability after a history marked by coups and jihadist activities. However, his indictment in March 2021 implicated him in amassing a considerable fortune, estimated at 67 million euros over more than a decade of leadership.
In October 2021, prosecutor Ahmed Ould Moustapha sought a twenty-year prison sentence for Mr. Aziz, along with asset confiscation. The former president contested the charges, attributing them to a plot aimed at sidelining him from political life.
In his final address last week, Mr. Aziz vehemently denied all accusations, labeling them as “erroneous, unjust, and part of a plot hatched against me.” In a surprising turn of events during the trial’s conclusion, he implicated his successor, alleging that Mr. Ghazouani had provided him with two suitcases filled with several million euros shortly after the 2019 election.
