Haidalla trial suspended indefinitely

A Mauritanian judge suspended indefinitely the trial of opposition leader Mohamed Khouna Ould Haidalla on Monday after the state prosecutor failed to produce key witnesses who were due to testify that Ould Haidalla and 14 of his supporters had plotted to overthrow President Maaouiya Ould Sid'Ahmed Taya. This was the third time the trial had been stopped since it began on 1 December. Last week, the trial was halted for two days because of the prosecution's failure to present the same two key witnesses. Proceedings were also suspended on December 2 after a walkout by defence lawyers in protest at alleged irregularities in the conduct of the trial. Ould Haidalla has been in custody since he was officially declared runner up to Ould Taya in a presidential election on 7 November. It was not immediately clear whether he and his supporters would now be released on bail. Judge Ould Abdi told the court that he was suspending the trial until further notice because the prosecution had failed to bring forward two witnesses who were due to testify last week. It would not resume until they could be brought before the court, he added State prosecutor Mohamed El Ghith told the court that his two witnesses, the owner of a foreign exchange bureau and a car salesman, could not testify because they had disappeared. Court sources said both men had left the country. Ould Haidalla, a former army colonel, ran this poor desert nation of 2.5 million inhabitants, from 1980 to 1984, before being overthrown by Ould Taya in a bloodless coup. Ould Taya has ruled Mauritania with an iron hand ever since. After years away from public life, Ould Haidalla, 63, resurfaced in August to announce that he would challenge through the ballot box the man who overthrew him by force of arms. Official returns from the election, which opposition parties said was rigged, gave Ould Taya victory with more than 66 percent of votes. Ould Haidalla was said to have polled 18.7 percent. Ould Haidalla, one of his sons and 13 other supporters were arrested two days after the election and and charged with treason. If found guilty they could face sentences of 20 years to life imprisonment with with hard labour. Specific charges against them include threatening state security, attempting to destabilise constitutional order, conspiring to destroy or change the government and complicity with a foreign power. The government has hinted that Ould Haidalla was in league with Libya, but the authorities in Tripoli were quick to deny any involvement with or support for the opposition candidate during his election campaign. Opposition leaders and human rights activists have accused the government of persecuting Ould Haidalla, who briefly detained before the presidential election, through what they have dubbed a "political trial." A team of 57 lawyers from Mauritania and neighbouring Senegal and Mali has been formed to defend Ould Haidalla and his friends. The defence team has declared the case against them void and has demanded their unconditional release. Two political analysts, an opposition leader and a university lecturer, told IRIN on Monday that following the latest suspension of the trial, Haidalla and his friends may be released from jail into conditional liberty. However, the threat of the trial resuming at any time would remain hanging over them, they noted. This tactic was used by the government following the arrest of several dozen Islamic radicals in May and June. They were subsequently charged and released. Alternatively, the analysts said, a new judge may be appointed to try the case.