Comoros ex-president gets life sentence in passport case

The ex-president of Comoros Ahmed Abdallah Sambi has been sentenced to life in prison after a court in the southeastern African nation found him guilty of high treason.

According to BBC, Sambi, who served as president of Comoros from 2006 to 2011, was handed out the prison sentence after it was determined he facilitated the sale of passports to nationless individuals residing in the Gulf. Authorities also accused him of embezzlement.

Sambi’s trial was held at the State Security Court. But the 64-year-old declined to be present during the hearings as he claimed he wouldn’t get a fair trial. An appeal against the court’s decision can’t be filed.

Sambi had been in custody for four years before his case went to trial. In 2008, he gave the green light for a law allowing the country to sell passports at expensive fees. But his lawyer said it wasn’t determined whether money had gone missing.