Moroni – Former Comorian President Ahmed Abdallah Sambi, who has spent four years in detention over graft allegations, on Monday appeared before a security court on high treason charges.
With a trimmed white beard, Sambi, the main opponent to current president Azali Assoumani, appeared in frail health as he sat in the courtroom.
The 64-year-old who led the small Indian Ocean archipelago between 2006 and 2011, and his lawyers challenged the composition of the court calling it “illegal”.
“I do not want to be tried by this court,” Sambi said.
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The hearing was postponed to Tuesday.
Sambi was originally placed under house arrest for disturbing public order.
Three months later he was placed under pre-trial detention for embezzlement, corruption and forgery, in a scandal involving the sale of Comorian passports to stateless people living in Gulf nations. He was later charged with high treason.
The Comoros islands – Anjouan, Grande Comore and Moheli – have endured years of grinding poverty and political turmoil, including about 20 coups or attempted coups, since independence from France in 1975.
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Source: AFP
Picture: Twitter/@AsaliyabibiTz
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