International Criminal Court judges on Tuesday ordered the release of former Ivorian leader Laurent Gbagbo. The court has acquitted him of all war crimes charges.
Gbagbo has been serving a prison term for committing crimes against humanity. He has so far spent seven years in detention.
Last November Gbagbo’s lawyers asked the International Criminal Court to drop all charges against him. The lawyers said after years of putting the former leader on trial the prosecution has failed to prove its case.
The ICC Presiding Judge Cuno Tarfusser agreed with Gbagbo’s lawyers argument. Tarfusser said prosecutors failed to prove their case against Gbagbo and co-defendant Charles Blé Goudé.
Both men have now been ordered to be set free.
“The majority finds that the prosecution has failed to demonstrate there was a common plan to keep Mr. Gbagbo in power that included the commission of crimes against civilians,” Tarfusser said.
Why was Gbagbo arrested?
Violence erupted in Ivory Coast shortly after the 2010 elections when Mr. Gbagbo refused to concede defeat to current president, Alassane Ouattara.
Mr. Gbagbo and his wife Simone, were arrested in 2011 after a brief civil war. He was handed over to the International Criminal Court.
Gbagbo 73, became the first former head of state to be handed over to the ICC and has been on trial since 2016.
He faced four counts of crimes against humanity, including murder, rape, persecution and other inhumane acts during the post-electoral violence between December 2010 and April 2011.
Mr. Gbagbo has however denied the charges, saying they were politically motivated.
Judge Tarfusser said “There is no need for the defence to submit further evidence as the prosecutor has not satisfied the burden of proof”.
#ICC Trial Chamber I acquits Laurent #Gbagbo & Charles #BléGoudé from all charges. Find out more in our press release https://t.co/QVD80anabJ
— Int’l Criminal Court (@IntlCrimCourt) January 15, 2019
Last August Ivory Coast’s former first lady Simone Gbagbo was also released from prison.
Her freedom came thanks to an amnesty granted by the country’s President, Alassane Ouattara. She had been serving a 20-year prison term for undermining state security.
The International Criminal Court also wants Simone to face similar charges, but Ivory Coast has refused to extradite her to The Hague.
Source: Africafeeds.com
