The former head of State was accused of administrative corruption, including amassing a multimillion-dollar fortune from the sales of Comorian passports to people living in countries bordering the Persian Gulf.

Abdallah Sambi, who ruled from 2006 to 2011, refuses to appear in court because he thinks that it would not be fair and asked for the objection of the president of the court for being part of the panel of jurists who decided to prosecute him.

In the presentation of the charges, the prosecutor said that the former president had ‘betrayed the mission entrusted to him by the people of Comoros.’

One of the lawyers from the Public Prosecutor’s Office stated that ‘he sold passports as if they were peanuts,’ according to reports from the hearing.

The defense for the president claims that there is no evidence of the fortune mentioned by the prosecution since no bank accounts in his name have been found.

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