The family of the former president of Comoros denounces that he has been “kidnapped” by the authorities for five years

Aug. 21 (EUROPA PRESS) –

The family of the former president of Comoros Ahmed Abdalá Sambi has denounced this Sunday that the former president has been “kidnapped” by the authorities for five years after his arrest in 2018 for corruption in a passport fraud case.

Sambi has been under house arrest since August 21, 2018 and, according to her daughter, Tisslame Sambi, in solitary confinement without contact with the outside world despite the fact that experts from international organizations such as the African Union or the United Nations have denounced that her detention was arbitrary.

“There is no other way to describe it: he has been detained without a time limit, without trial or sentence, but he has been deprived of all his liberties. It is a kidnapping,” his daughter denounced to Radio France Internationale (RFI).

“We don’t know if my father will ever get out of this indefinite preventive detention, and which is ultimately similar to a life sentence, without even having a prior trial,” he added, before denouncing that the former president’s health, as recognizes the own Judiciary of the country, is very deteriorated.

The passport scandal dates back to 2008, when Comoros started a program, with the cooperation of the United Arab Emirates and Kuwait, to offer citizenship to stateless people from Gulf countries in exchange for oil investments. However, some of the passports were purchased by Iranians, some of whom were linked to companies under international sanctions.

The Parliament of Comoros estimates that the fraud scheme cost the small archipelago some 960 million euros.