Mauritania’s former president is sentenced to 15 years in prison after appealing a 5-year verdict

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NOUAKCHOTT, Mauritania (AP) — An appeals court in Mauritania handed down a 15-year prison sentence and a $3 million fine to former President Mohamed Ould Abdel Aziz on Wednesday after he appealed a five-year sentence.

Aziz helped lead two coups before serving two terms as president of the northwest African country and becoming a counterterrorism partner to Western nations.

He was sentenced in 2023 after being found guilty of money laundering and self-enrichment. According to investigators, he accumulated over $70 million in assets while in power. He has been in custody since the verdict.

The trial marked a rare instance in which an African leader was tried for corruption. Aziz’s lawyers have framed the trial as score-settling between him and current President Mohamed Ould Cheikh Ghazouani.

Wednesday’s verdict cleared six senior officials from the former president’s administration, but sentenced Aziz’s son-in-law to two years in prison for influence peddling. The court also ordered the dissolution of the “Errahma” (Mercy) Foundation led by Aziz’s son and the seizure of his assets.

Ghazouani and Aziz were allies until Ghazouani became president in 2019 in the country’s first peaceful transfer of government since independence. They fought over Aziz’s attempts to take over a major political party after leaving office. A parliamentary commission opened a corruption inquiry against Aziz and 11 others in 2020.

Mauritania is rich in natural resources including iron ore, copper, zinc, phosphate, gold, oil and natural gas. Yet almost 60% of the population lives in poverty, according to the United Nations, working as farmers or employed informally. With few economic opportunities for young people, many are attempting to reach Europe, and some are trying to reach the United States through Mexico.