– Room for discussion. After more than two weeks of interruption due to referral to the Constitutional Council, the trial of Mohamed Ould Abdel Aziz entered since April 6 at the heart of the corruption case between the public prosecutor and the former president. With ten other defendants who all held high administrative and political positions in the 2010s – two former prime ministers are also in the dock – the former Mauritanian head of state from 2008 to 2019 must answer for serious crimes. financial. He is notably prosecuted for “illicit enrichment”, “abuse of functions”, “influence peddling”, “money laundering”.
Opened on January 25, the trial was marked by numerous suspensions and several hearing incidents. The debates had until then essentially focused on the jurisdiction of the court to try Mohamed Ould Abdel Aziz as well as whether or not to keep the main accused in detention. It is now in a new phase and offers a dive into the heart of the corruption cases of the former Mauritanian regime that look like a settling of scores.
At the helm of the Nouakchott court, businessman Brahim Ould Ghadda explained Monday, April 10 to Oumar Ould Mohamed Lemine, president of the court, how the former president had given him the sum of 7.1 billion euros. old ouguiyas (18.7 million euros) on deposit from 2009. Part of this amount would have been used to build a private clinic in the Mauritanian capital. A little before him, retired general Ahmed Ould Beckrine claimed to have received the order from Mohamed Ould Abdel Aziz to give up part of the grounds of the Nouakchott police academy in order to transform it into a shopping centre.
Abuse of power and embezzlement
“The former president called me on the phone and asked me to facilitate the visit of a person from the Ministry of Housing accompanied by a few individuals, in order to take a look at part of the school. font for sale », argued Mr. Ould Békrine, former Director General of National Security. Thursday, April 6, it was the Minister of National Education at the time of the facts who told the bar the sale by the State of several buildings housing primary schools.
The appearance of the former Mauritanian president, who pleads not guilty, follows a long financial investigation carried out by a parliamentary commission at the request of the National Assembly. This was the subject of an 800-page report in which Mohamed Ould Abdel Aziz appears as the decision-maker of a system combining abuse of power and embezzlement, even if he is never mentioned by name.
“In addition to the multiple irregularities noted in public procurement, there have also been violations of texts relating to the management of the public domain of the State, concludes the committee’s report. The analysis focused on several land transfer projects by the State to third parties, in particular with regard to basic schools in Nouakchott. Irregularities noted at the end of investigations carried out by the commission were thus noted concerning the procedures not provided for by the texts and used to proceed with the transfer of the land as well as concerning the administrative conditions for leaving the plots of the public domain. » SAccording to the parliamentary commission of inquiry, the total amount of property and assets “fraudulently dissipated” is valued at 96 million euros.
“Friends of Forty Years”
The trial, which will resume on April 18, after the Eid-el-Fitr holiday marking the end of Ramadan, will it take on the appearance of a great unpacking on the Aziz decade? “The testimonies heard are not clear and therefore do not prove anything, responds Lucas Vincent, one of Mr. Aziz’s lawyers. That of Mr. Ould Gadda is even exculpatory since it indicates that his group was not favored during the presidency of my client. »
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