Nouakchott / Mohamed El Bekkaye / Anadolu—
The Mauritanian Journalists’ Union called this Saturday for clarification of the circumstances surrounding the detention a few days earlier in Nouakchott of Mohamed Ould Cheikh, a writer and media professor at Qatar University.
Ould Cheikh is also President of Nestatiou, a non-governmental youth movement, and its candidate in the parliamentary elections scheduled for the coming first of September.
In a statement seen by Anadolu, the Union said that security services had detained Ould Cheikh and taken him to an unknown location, without providing further details.
The Union called on the authorities to identify where he was being held and allow his relatives to visit and check on his health.
It also stressed the need to grant his legal right enabling his lawyer to follow developments in his detention.
The Union reiterated its rejection of any restriction on freedom of expression or political and intellectual views.
In a statement, Nestatiou said that its President and parliamentary candidate had been arrested by security services the previous Wednesday in circumstances it described as “mysterious”.
Ould Cheikh wrote on Facebook on Wednesday that he was in a police station in Nouakchott and did not know why he was there.
As of 12:30 GMT, the Mauritanian authorities had issued no comment on Ould Cheikh’s detention.
Mauritania will hold local and parliamentary elections on the coming first of September, with all opposition parties participating, including those that boycotted the 2013 elections.