NOUAKCHOTT, Dec. 5 (Xinhua) -- Former Mauritanian President Mohamed Ould Abdel Aziz was sentenced to five years in prison for money laundering and illicit enrichment by a court in Nouakchott, the capital of the West African country, Monday, his lawyer Taleb Khyar told Xinhua.
The court decreed the confiscation of all property belonging to the ex-president, along with the deprivation of his civil rights, Taleb Khyar said.
Additionally, the court imposed a fine of approximately 1.2 million U.S. dollars on Abdel Aziz, to be paid to the Mauritanian state as damages, the lawyer added.
Abdel Aziz and 10 co-defendants have been on trial since Jan. 25. Some of them received sentences ranging from six months to two and a half years in prison or suspended sentences. Others, including four former ministers, were acquitted.
Born in 1956, Abdel Aziz came to power on Aug. 6, 2008, after overthrowing the late president Sidi Ould Cheikh Abdellahi. After a brief resignation, he was elected as president of Mauritania for a first term from 2009 to 2014, followed by reelection for a second term of five years. ■
