NOUAKCHOTT, Mauritania — Mauritanian authorities moved Thursday to formally indict two female opposition lawmakers who had publicly accused the government of systemic racial bias, according to officials familiar with the proceedings. The charges, centred on allegations of 'insulting the president,' follow their appearance before a magistrate in the capital, escalating a standoff that has drawn sharp international scrutiny.

The two legislators, members of an opposition bloc that has long criticised President Mohamed Ould Ghazouani's administration over the treatment of Afro-Mauritanian communities, made their accusations during a parliamentary session last week. Their remarks were referred to prosecutors, who moved with unusual speed to bring charges — a timeline critics say is politically motivated.

Human rights groups, including Amnesty International's West Africa desk, condemned the indictments as an attempt to silence minority voices in a country where tensions between Arab-Berber and Black African communities have historically run deep. 'Using criminal law to punish legislators for speaking in parliament is a direct assault on democratic norms,' a spokesperson said in a statement released Thursday.

The Mauritanian government defended the prosecutions, with a spokesperson for the justice ministry saying that 'no individual, including elected officials, is above the law when it comes to defaming the head of state.' The charges carry potential prison sentences of up to two years under Mauritania's penal code.

The case is being closely watched by the African Union and the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS), both of which have placed Mauritania under informal observation following previous concerns about press freedoms. The opposition has called for a nationwide protest on Friday if the charges are not dropped, raising the prospect of street demonstrations in Nouakchott.