Mauritania ex-president in court for graft charges appeal

Mauritania's former president Mohamed Ould Abdel Aziz appeared in court on Wednesday at the opening of his appeal against a jail sentence for abuse of power and embezzlement.
Aziz, who ruled the 4.5 million-population country between north Africa and sub-Saharan Africa between 2008 and 2019, was found guilty and sentenced to five years in jail in December 2023. His lawyers have appealed the sentence.