00:00Mauritania's former president, Mohamed Oul Abdelaziz, has lost his final appeal of a 15-year prison sentence for corruption while in office.
00:09Abdelaziz was initially sentenced to five years in prison in 2023 after being found guilty of amassing assets and capital worth $70 million through illicit means.
00:20His lawyers argued that the trial was politically motivated, but a first appeal of the conviction was rejected in May of this year, and his sentence increased by 10 years.
00:31After seizing power in a 2008 coup, Abdelaziz was twice elected president and served from 2009 to 2019 when he stepped down.
00:41In 2021, he was charged with illicit enrichment, abuse of functions, influence peddling and laundering, alongside 10 other prominent figures, including two former prime ministers.
00:53Since his conviction, he's been stripped of his assets and civic rights.
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