The Mauritanian President Killed the Hopes Of Ould Abdel Aziz's Return

Late in the evening of June 22, 2021, the Mauritanian judiciary sent former President Mohamed Ould Abdel Aziz to prison.

"My client (Old Abdel Aziz) has been sent to prison," the head of his defense team, lawyer Mohamed Ould Ashdo, told Anadolu Agency.

Tight security measures were imposed in the vicinity of the Palace of Justice in the capital, Nouakchott, in conjunction with the issuance of the decision to send Ould Abdel Aziz to prison.

On March 11, 2021, the Public Prosecution indicted Ould Abdel Aziz and 12 of the pillars of his rule, on charges including money laundering and granting unjustified privileges in government deals.

On April 4, 2021, the judiciary issued a decision to freeze the assets of the 13 defendants, and house arrest was imposed on Ould Abdel Aziz in his home in the capital, Nouakchott, with the obligation to sign with the police 3 times a week.

 

The Most Important Issue

Ould Abdel Aziz has ruled Mauritania for two terms since 2009, and in the 2019 elections he supported Ould Cheikh El Ghazouani, with whom he participated in the 2008 coup.

In early August 2019, the current president, Mohamed Ould Cheikh El-Ghazwani, began a 5-year presidential term, after winning 52 percent of the elections held on June 22 of that year.

Since the opening of the investigation against his predecessor in August 2020 until his indictment in March 2021, Ghazouani refuses to interfere in the proceedings of the case, "even though he is between two camps in his entourage, one of which urges him to move quickly and forcefully against his former friend," according to Jeune Afrique magazine's expression. .

Sources close to Ould Abdelaziz revealed to "Jeune Afrique" that he does not want to read the report of the parliamentary investigation committee, stressing that it is "the task of the judiciary."

Abdelaziz attempted to politicize his case by announcing on April 7, 2021 that he had joined the opposition National Ribat party led by Saad Ould Walid, which, following the arrest of Ould Abdelaziz on June 22, announced that he would “organize protests to reject this prison.”

The opposition party, which was founded five years ago, allied itself with Ould Abdel Aziz in recent months, and announced its "merger" with the latter's supporters, and considered in a statement that the arrest was a "regression of freedoms in the country."

On the other hand, the former president had a dialogue with "Jeune Afrique", on April 16, 2021, to confirm that "his problem with President Mohamed Ould Ghazwani is not personal, but primarily intellectual”  and denied that he had sought any form of power-sharing  with the president.

New Setback

In June 2020, the Mauritanian parliament issued a report that was referred to the judiciary, including accusations of the former president and a number of his ministers and close associates, in corruption operations. The report said that the authorities arrested Ould Abdelaziz, on August 17, 2020, before releasing him after a week.

On March 11, 2021, the Public Prosecution requested that the defendants will be under “strict judicial control measures,” with their release until the completion of the investigation. In the meantime, Ould Abdelaziz maintained immunity and refused to say anything during the investigations.

Ould Abdelaziz was placed under heavy guard, in mid-May 2021, and had to go to the police station 3 times a week, and also asked for permission from the judge to leave the capital, Nouakchott.

The imprisonment of the former president came days after his decision to stop coming to the police station, in violation of one of the conditions of house arrest imposed on him.

Agence France-Presse considered that, after more than ten years in the presidency of the vast coastal state in West Africa, the decision to imprison Ould Abdelaziz represents a "new setback" for him during the reign of his successor, Mohamed Ould Cheikh El-Ghazwani, although it was him who paved the way in front of his former chief of staff and the former minister to succeed him.

Ould AbdelAziz asserts that he is the victim of  " personal calculations", but his successor constantly defends the independence of the judiciary.

Observers found that the files with which the former president is being pursued are true, and they did not doubt his involvement in corruption cases during the period in which he led Mauritania.

But they did not rule out the existence of political reasons for this persecution, like his attempt - before the follow-up - to return to the political front through his party, which was founded by the "Union for the Republic", the ruling party in Mauritania.

The authority in Mauritania sought to show the trial of the former president, and to follow him in a proper judicial manner and in accordance with the conditions of a fair trial regulated by the laws of the country without political pressure.

The Mauritanian opposition is counting on these trials, and it was a forerunner to participate in the parliamentary investigation committee, which was the spark that brought the former president's corruption to justice.

What is certain by following up on the merits of the investigation with Ould Abdelaziz and his former co-rulers, is the existence of a political will in order to provide all sufficient evidence to convict the accused, and to confiscate all the money they illegally acquired.

Mauritanian journalist, Mohamed Salem Mohamed, said in a statement to "Al-Estiklal": "Practically, Ould Abdelaziz's page was politically closed by his exit from power, and his attempt to occupy a position in the political scene through media excitement is failed.

He added, "Now he is facing a judicial process, through his refusal to sign in front of the police after the security forces stopped his street plays."

The spokesman added: "I hope and expect that the man will receive a fair trial so the Mauritanian people regain part of their looted wealth."

Soft Coup?

Since his accession to the presidency of Mauritania in August 2019, Mohamed Ould Al-Ghazwani wanted to sever his relations with his predecessor, former President Mohamed Ould Abdelaziz, stressing his determination to establish a new era.

Immediately after assuming his position, Ould Ghazouani dismissed security and military officials close to his predecessor, and also made changes in the structure of the ruling party "Union for the Republic", as Sidi Mohamed Ould Taleb Amar was elected as the new head of the party, succeeding its former president, Sidi Mohamed Ould Mohamed, who resigned in March 2020.

In January 2020, lawyer Mohamed Ould Amin, one of the former president's information ministers and one of his current opponents, announced after the formation of the committee that "the arrest of Mohamed Ould Abdelaziz is imminent, and he must enjoy all his rights, the first of which is a fair trial and an impartial defense."

He added: "If nothing is proven against the former president, or if something is proven against him as I expect, then there is no objection to his friend (President Ghazwani) issuing a pardon, forgetting about the charges after a simple moral punishment, and recovering the looted funds."

Among those who considered it a political maneuver at the beginning of the presidential term and those who saw in it a new political methodology, President Ould Ghazouani ended the estrangement with the opposition after 10 years of the rule of former President Mohamed Ould Abdelaziz, who was previously described by his opponents as severe and narrow minded.

The conflict emerged at the party level. Only about 100 days after the inauguration of the new president escalated the dispute within the "Union for the Republic" between those who supported the continuation of the dominance of former President Mohamed Ould Abdelaziz over the political decision, and those who sought to shift the party's direction in favor of the new president, Ould. Ghazwani.

At its conference held in December 2019 in Nouakchott, the party announced the disengagement from the former president, and considered its new leaders, Ould Ghazouani, and his program as the new reference for the ruling party.

Following the party’s general conference and announcing its results, all the pictures of Ould Abdelaziiz were removed from the headquarters of the ruling party, which were hung next to the pictures of Ould Al-Ghazwani in the front of the party’s headquarters, and on some of its internal walls. Some considered this as a soft coup by the new president against Yesterday's ally.

Mauritanian political analyst Mohamed Abdallah Ould Lahbib said in a previous statement to Al-Estiklal: "I think that the expression of a coup does not apply to the behavior of the current president or to his actions.

The spokesman continued: "The page of Ould Abdelaziz has been folded, and a seat has been placed for him between the ousted civilian president in 2008, Sidi Mohamed Ould Cheikh Abdallah, and the historical leader of the Mauritanian opposition, Ahmed Ould Daddah."