Opposition leader accused of plot freed
Lawyers: Verdict indicates charges were baseless
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NOUAKCHOTT, Mauritania (Reuters) -- An opposition leader charged with plotting to overthrow President Maaouya Ould Sid'Ahmed Taya was released from custody Sunday with a five-year suspended sentence and a fine.
Former military ruler Mohamed Khouna Ould Haidalla was put on trial after losing to Taya in a presidential poll last month, accused by the authorities of conspiring with a foreign power to destroy or change the constitutional regime.
He had been in custody since November 9, two days after the election.
He was found guilty of plotting the coup, a charge that would normally carry a minimum sentence of 10-20 years in jail or up to a lifetime of forced labor.
It was not immediately clear why the court president gave Haidalla the five-year sentence, which was suspended without a fixed term for the suspension, effectively giving him his freedom.
Defense lawyers said the apparently lenient sentence was probably because the case was unfounded.
"It's a political decision which has the advantage of avoiding a prison sentence," lawyer Maitre Ebretty Ould Brahim said.
Taya has ruled the Islamic republic with an iron fist since seizing power from Haidalla in 1984 in a country where power has never changed hands through the ballot box since independence from France in 1960.
Haidalla was seen as the strongest challenger to Taya for some time and had a broad coalition, ranging from liberals to Islamic radicals, but he was trounced in the November poll amid allegations of vote rigging.
He was arrested with a number of supporters after the election. Four people from Haidalla's camp were also released Sunday, each receiving two-year suspended sentences and fines.
Mauritania is a poor, mostly desert nation that is looking to offshore oil finds for potential wealth.
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