Afrigather Former Mauritanian president Mohamed Ould Abdel Aziz on Monday firmly denied in courtroom all allegations he faces of abusing his energy and amassing an enormous fortune.
Aziz, who dominated the pivotal nation between North Africa and sub-Saharan Africa between 2008 and 2019, fell into shame beneath successor and present President Mohamed Ould Ghazouani.
With the prosecution having demanded a 20-year sentence, the 66-year-old former chief launched into an hours-long monologue in courtroom.
“All of those accusations are false, unjust and a part of a warped plot in opposition to me,” he instructed a packed prison courtroom in Nouakchott.
“I’m accused of corruption, The place is my corrupter? The place is the proof of this corruption?,” requested Aziz, defending himself serenely however spiritedly in Arabic.
He was not often interrupted besides when helped to translate an thought expressed in French, every of these events drawing protest from the courtroom.
“I’m instantly focused,” he mentioned, arguing that his predecessors weren’t held to account. Certainly, this can be a uncommon case of a high chief going through a courtroom charged with self-enrichment in workplace.
Aziz has been in responding to the case since January 25 together with ten different figures, together with two former Prime Ministers, former ministers and businessmen, variously accused of “illicit enrichment”, “abuse of features”, “affect peddling ” or cash “laundering”.
He has been in detention since January 24, after spending a number of months in custody in 2021.
Son of a tradesman, Aziz, is known to have amassed belongings valued at round 67 million euros by the point of his March 2021 arrest.
In addition to a protracted jail time period, the prosecution has demanded he forfeit his belongings.
The accused are all referred to as upon to deal with the courtroom of their defence earlier than sentencing.
The courtroom is about to retire for deliberation forward of sentencing set for the approaching days.
Extra sources • AFP
