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| Africa: North |
| General amnesty for Mauritanian prisoners |
| 2005-09-03 |
| Mauritania's interim government has announced a general amnesty for all political prisoners, the Arab TV network al-Jazeera reported on Friday. The interim government was appointed by the military junta that seized power on 3 August from deposed president, Maauoya Ould Sid Ahmed Taya in a bloodless coup. The junta - which calls itself the Military Council for Justice and Democracy - has promised to hold democratic elections within two years. In late August, an appeals court in the Mauritanian capital, Nouakchott, turned down a request from local magistrates for the release of 23 Islamists arrested under Taya's regime, for allegedly plotting a failed coup in 2003, and being members of a Salafite terrorist group operating in Algeria, the pan-Arab al-Shaq al-Awsat daily reported. The appeals court said the men must stay in prison while investigations into their cases continue. The decision followed unsuccessful attempts by the junta to have the men freed. Relatives of the detainees have held several protests since the coup, asking Mauritania's new military rulers for their release. |
| Posted by:Dan Darling |