Shropshire Star

Ivory Coast’s former president acquitted at International Criminal Court

Laurent Gbagbo has been cleared of crimes committed following disputed elections in 2010 after judges said prosecutors failed to prove their case.

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Former Ivory Coast President Laurent Gbagbo

Judges at the International Criminal Court have acquitted former Ivory Coast president Laurent Gbagbo of crimes committed following disputed elections in 2010.

The court in The Hague also acquitted the country’s former youth minister Charles Ble Goude, saying prosecutors failed to prove their case.

Charles Ble Goude hugs his legal team
Charles Ble Goude hugs his legal team (AP Photo/Peter Dejong, Pool)

Presiding Judge Cuno Tarfusser ordered the immediate release of the 73-year-old Gbagbo and Ble Goude, following the judgment mid-way through their trial.

Mr Tarfusser said a majority of the three-judge chamber ruled that “the prosecutor has failed to satisfy the burden of proof” against both men.

Lawyers for Gbagbo and Ble Goude asked judges last year to acquit both men for lack of evidence at the end of the prosecution case in their trial that began just under three years ago.

Mr Tarfusser later suspended his order ahead of a follow-up hearing on Wednesday, when prosecutors are expected to announce whether they will appeal.

Presiding Judge Cuno Tarfusser
Presiding Judge Cuno Tarfusser (AP Photo/Peter Dejong, Pool)

Gbagbo was the first former president to go on trial at the global court and his case was seen as a milestone in efforts to bring to justice even the highest-ranking leaders accused of atrocities.

Mr Tarfusser said it was a matter of public record that Ivory Coast was wracked by post-election violence in 2010 and early 2011, but he said prosecutors did not present evidence that Gbagbo and Ble Goude formulated a common plan for their supporters to unleash violence.

More than 3,000 people were killed after Gbagbo refused to accept defeat by his rival and current Ivory Coast President Alassane Ouattara.

As Mr Tarfusser announced the acquittals, supporters of Gbagbo and Ble Goude stood up and cheered in the courtroom’s gallery.

Supporters of Gbagbo outside the International Criminal Court in The Hague
Supporters of Gbagbo outside the International Criminal Court in The Hague (AP Photo/Peter Dejong, Pool)

The ruling was the latest defeat for prosecutors at the world’s first global war crimes court.

The case against Kenyan President Uhuru Kenyatta, who was also accused of involvement — before he became president — in post-election violence in his country, collapsed in December 2014.

Last year a former Congolese vice president, Jean-Pierre Bemba, was acquitted on appeal of crimes allegedly committed by his militia in neighbouring Central African Republic.

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