BREAKING: In Ivory Coast, former President Laurent Gbagbo permanently removed from electoral lists
Former Ivorian President Laurent Gbagbo at the International Criminal Court (ICC)) in The Hague, February 6, 2020. POOL New / REUTERS
Ivorian justice has confirmed the removal from the electoral lists of former Ivorian President Laurent Gbagbo by the Independent Electoral Commission (CEI), AFP learned Tuesday (August 25th) from his lawyer. “The president of the tribunal endorsed the decision (…). This is a definite no, there is no further recourse at the national level, “Gbagbo’s lawyer, Claude Mentenon, told AFP.
The former president, as well as the former rebel leader and ex-Prime Minister Guillaume Soro, the former leader of the Young Patriots, Charles Blé Goudé, and the opponent Akossi Bendjo, former mayor of the Plateau district in Abidjan, contested their absence from the electoral lists posted in the polling stations in early August.
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Relatives of Guillaume Soro, who claims to be a presidential candidate on October 31 despite living in exile in France, have challenged the decision in the Korhogo court, but are still awaiting a response, we learned from her entourage
“Anyone sentenced for an offense or a crime to deprivation of their civic rights was removed from the lists during the revision”, explained Ibrahime Coulibaly-Kuibiert, the president of the CEI during the presentation of the revision of the electoral list. early August. The four men, who live abroad, have all been sentenced by Ivorian courts.
Twenty-year prison sentences
Acquitted at first instance by the International Criminal Court (ICC), Laurent Gbagbo lives in Brussels awaiting a possible appeal, but he was sentenced by the Ivorian justice to twenty years in prison for the “robbery” of the Bank Central West African States during the post-electoral crisis of 2010-2011.
The former first lady of Côte d’Ivoire, Simone Gbagbo, on August 11 asked the Ivorian President, Alassane Ouattara,
“Amnesty” her husband Laurent. “The arguments used to justify the removal of Laurent Gbagbo’s name from the electoral list are very questionable legal arguments. Moreover, the trial which led to this conviction is itself political and unjustifiable, “Gbagbo said.
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Mr. Soro was sentenced by the Ivorian courts to twenty years in prison for “concealment of embezzlement of public funds” and is the subject of proceedings for “attempted insurrection”.
The climate has become tense in Côte d’Ivoire, ten years after the post-election crisis which left more than 3,000 dead. Violence following the announcement of President Ouattara’s candidacy for a third term killed at least 8 people in August.
The World with AFP
