Mauritania – Former Pres. Mohamed Ould Abdel Aziz Arrested on Corruption Charges

The police in Nouakchott has arrested former Mauritanian President Mohamed Ould Abdel Aziz late Tuesday evening.

Abdel Aziz was remanded by a judge from the Anti-corruption Unit of the Nouakchott-West prosecutor’s office. One of his lawyers contacted by The Chronicle has confirmed the former Mauritanian arrest and detention in Nouakchott.

Mohamed Ould Abdel Aziz, who ruled Mauritania between 2008 and 2019, was indicted on March 12th, 2021, with corruption, embezzlement of public goods, and money laundering. He has always denied the allegations leveled at him.

In January 2017, Ould Abdel Aziz, the Mauritanian President, flew into the Gambian capital Banjul to break the political impasse that followed Yahya Jammeh’s decision to reject the results of the December 2016 polls. But Ould Abdel Aziz failed to convince his friend Yahya Jammeh to concede defeat to Adama Barrow and step down.

Abdel Aziz returned to Nouakchott, leaving Guinean President Alpha Condé alone in The Gambia until Jammeh departed to Conakry and Malabo.