Mauritania’s former president, Mohamed Ould Abdelaziz has been barred from travelling abroad.
Ould Abdelaziz was today stopped by the Mauritanian police at the Nouakchott airport and prevented from travelling abroad.
Police officers seized his passport and told him he was not allowed to leave the country when he was about to board an Air France flight.
“I am the former president Mohamed Ould Abdelaziz. The political police prevented me from traveling abroad. Although I am not under any judicial supervision. There is no legal reason from them to prevent me from travelling,” the former president said in a video recording posted on social media.
He accused the “corrupt regime” of “targeting him and mistreating him”. The government is yet to respond to his claims.
Ould Abdelaziz alongside senior government officials who worked under him between 2008 to 2019 are being investigated over allegations of graft and misappropriation.
He says he is the victim of political witch-hunting and says he should enjoy protection under the country’s constitution.