The U.S. government has welcomed the decision of the Mauritanian government to release the leader of the Initiative for the Resurgence of the Abolitionist Movement (IRA), Biram Ould Abeid.
This is contained in a declaration issued Wednesday by the U.S. embassy in Nouakchott.
On Tuesday, the Mauritanian Supreme Court ordered the immediate release of Biram Ould Abeid, winner of the UN human rights prize in 2013 and runner-up in the 21 June presidential election in 2014.
In January 2015, Ould Abeid was sentenced to a two-year imprisonment for his anti-slavery activism along with one of his supporters, Brahim Ould Ramdhane.
In a declaration, the U.S. embassy re-affirmed U.S. support to the important work done by the rights and anti-slavery activists, saying they deserved the fundamental rights to peacefully defend their cause.
It said the U.S. had always insisted on a free and fair legal proceeding in the matter.
U.S. welcomes release of anti-slavery activists in Mauritania
