Mauritanian court jails anti-slavery activists

Mauritania

NOUAKCHOTT (AFP) – A Mauritanian court Thursday handed out six-month jail terms to three anti-slavery activists charged with assaulting police during a rally for the release of two young female slaves. The court had called for one-year mandatory sentences for five members of the Initiative for the Resurgence of Abolitionism Movement, accused of assaulting security forces and taking part in an unauthorised rally. The court had also sought a three-year prison term for the group’s leader, Biram Ould Abeid. But late Thursday, it sentenced Ould Abeid and two others to six months in prison. Three others received suspended sentences of six months. They had all pleaded not guilty.

Ould Abeid told the court he was being “judged for my fight against slavery in Mauritania, which authorities are trying to hide.” The six activists were arrested on December 13 during a protest against the suspected enslavement of two girls, aged 10 and 14. They all pleaded not guilty. The girls denied being enslaved but the woman they were working for was charged with exploiting minors and put under supervision while waiting for a court decision. Mauritania abolished slavery in 1981 but it still persists in some parts of the country.

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