Mauritanian journalist Abdelfattah Ould Abiden is in pretrial detention following his arrest over a series of social media posts about sensitive political and social issues.
Ould Abiden, a veteran journalist and director of local independent news website Al-Aqsa, was arrested at his home in the southwestern city of Rosso on September 14, 2025, under Mauritania’s Law of Symbols and Citizens’ Honor, which criminalizes perceived insults to state officials, according to media reports and CPJ’s phone conversation with local journalist Ahmed Ould Haroud.
On September 16, authorities transferred him to a prison in the capital Nouakchott on accusations of “spreading hate speech.”
Ould Abiden’s arrest stems from the online publication of a series of audio interviews and social media posts in which he commented on Mauritanian politics, including on members of the Initiative for the Resurgence of the Abolitionist Movement (IRA), an anti-slavery and human rights movement founded in 2008.
In early October, a criminal appeals court in western Nouakchott ordered his release on bail pending trial, but the public prosecutor successfully appealed the decision. As of late October, he was being held without conviction.
Local journalists and press unions have denounced his arrest as arbitrary.
Ould Abiden was previously detained on August 28, 2024, for allegedly insulting the Minister of Social Affairs Safia Mint N’Tehah on social media. He was released on September 24, 2024.
Ould Abiden is in his 60s and suffers from diabetes and other chronic illnesses. CPJ was unable to confirm whether he has access to medical care or contact with his family.
CPJ’s emailed request to the Mauritanian Ministry of Justice about Ould Abiden’s case did not receive a reply.