10:12 p.m
Wednesday, January 25, 2023
Mauritania – (AHA)
This evening, Wednesday, Nouakchott time, the first session of the trial of former Mauritanian President Mohamed Ould Abdel Aziz, who appeared with ten others before the Criminal Court in Nouakchott to combat corruption, ended. The court, headed by Omar Mohamed El Amin, decided to reject the request of some civil society organizations to include them in the file.
The criminal court’s decision to reject the organizations’ request came after long pleadings from the lawyers and vigorous discussions that dominated the first session of the trial.
The defense team of the former president had objected to the request of civil society organizations, and the court said that it had decided to reject the request of civil society organizations to merge them in the file, “because there is no legal basis for inclusion.”
These organizations specialized in combating bribery and corruption had appointed lawyers and requested representation in the trial as the aggrieved civil party, but the lawyers who objected to this said that there is no direct harm to the organizations until they are represented in the trial.
The head of the Mauritanian Bar Association, Ibrahim Ould Ibti, said – in a statement to the Middle East News Agency – that the court adjourned the session and decided to resume it on Thursday morning.
He added that the court decided that the trial sessions would be held on Mondays, Tuesdays and Wednesdays of every week, starting next week.
Former Mauritanian President Mohamed Abdel Aziz and ten of the pillars of his rule, including two prime ministers, appear before the Criminal Court for Corruption. The former president and his associates face charges of corruption, money laundering and illegal enrichment.
And began – earlier in the day – the trial of former Mauritanian President Mohamed Abdel Aziz and ten of the pillars of his rule, including two prime ministers, on charges of corruption, money laundering and illegal enrichment.
Former President Mohamed Ould Abdel Aziz was represented, wearing a muzzle, with his comrades inside the bars in the hall, and he held lengthy conversations with the lawyers who defend him during the opening session of the trial, which witnessed a delay in its launch from the scheduled date for several hours, due to the complexity of the security measures witnessed in the vicinity of the Palace of Justice on Ave. Jamal Abdel Nassar, where the trial is taking place.
The session proceeded according to strict and strict security measures by the presiding judge, who ordered the removal of one of the lawyers after discovering that he had a phone with him. He also prevented everyone who left the hall during the session from returning to the hall.
In the vicinity of the Palace of Justice (the seat of the court), supporters and opponents of the former president gathered, and raised banners expressing their positions.
