Tag Archives: Laurent Gbagbo

Lifestyle

Ivory Coast: opposition coalition calls for electoral reform ahead of presidential election

Maravi Post Reporter

Ivory Coast’s “coalition for peaceful change” or CAP Côte d’Ivoire, called for electoral reform ahead of the crucial vote for the next president, set to take place on 25 October 2025.

Among the recently-formed group’s demands for change are notably a revision of the electoral lists and the publication of election results by polling station.

The CAP-CI also called for “political dialogue” and criticised the independent electoral commission, which it sees as partial in its decision-making concerning the electoral lists.

On Monday, the coalition also announced that it will hold its first meeting on 31 May.

Formed in March earlier this year, the CAP regroups several parties opposing the presidential movement, with the notable exception of the movement created by former president Laurent Gbagbo.

Several opposition candidates have however been removed from the electoral lists, among them Tidjane Thiam, who coordinates the coalition.

While some were barred due to judicial convictions, such as in the case of Laurent Gbagbo and Charles Blé Goudé, Thiam was removed following a controversial court decision in April that concluded that he had lost his Ivorian citizenship in 2022.

The definitive electoral list with all eligible candidates is set to be released on 20 June.

Source: Africanews

https://video.euronews.com/mp4/ED/14/08/94/07/ED_PYR_1408947_20250506064728.mp4
Regional

Ivory Coast: President Ouattara meets ex-leaders to reconcile

Maravi Post Reporter
– –

Ivorian President Alassane Ouattara has held talks with his predecessors Laurent Gbagbo and Henri Konan Bédié in the capital city as part of efforts to reconcile the country.

The three men have been long-time rivals and such rivalry often led to tensions for decades.

This was the trio’s first meeting together since a bitter civil war in 2010, although Ouattara last year met face to face with Laurent Gbagbo. That was their first meeting in 10 years.

It was the tension between the two political rivals in the wake of the 2010-2011 post-election dispute that sparked the brief civil way.

That conflict led to the death of more than 3,000 people and got Gbagbo facing trial at the Hague.

– –

Laurent Gbagbo spent a decade in exile, facing years of legal procedures at the International Criminal Court.

He was acquitted of crimes against humanity by the International Criminal Court (ICC).

On Thursday, President Ouattara welcomed Mr Gbagbo and Mr Bédié to a warm reception at the presidential palace where they held talks for more than an hour.

At the end, Mr Gbagbo read a brief statement to journalists, saying “Today’s meeting was a reunion to renew contact and exchange in truth on the major issues of the nation”.

– –

The three politicians expressed hoped that the meeting would improve the political climate in Ivory Coast.

President Ouattara expressed optimism that such meetings would become regular to enable him take home his predecessors’ opinions and recommendations.

Ivory Coast’s Ouattara and Gbagbo meet after 10 years

Source: Africafeeds.com

Source: Africa Feeds

Lifestyle

Former Ivory Coast leader Laurent Gbagbo launches new political party in Abidjan

Maravi Post Reporter

Laurent Gbagbo, with a decade-long exile behind him, this weekend embarks on a path he hopes will return him to Ivory Coast’s presidency at the helm of a new party.

“This is the grand return of Laurent Gbagbo to the political scene,” his spokesman Justin Kone Katinan told AFP ahead of the launch.

Gbagbo will oversee the new party’s congress on Saturday and Sunday as he seeks to “reunite the left” and use the occasion as a springboard to the 2025 presidential election.

The 76-year-old, whose 2000-2011 rule was marked by turbulence and division in the world’s biggest cocoa producer, has been very visible since returning to his homeland on June 17.

He was removed from office in April 2011 after a short civil war that claimed 3,000 lives, sparked by his refusal to accept electoral defeat by current President Alassane Ouattara.

Gbagbo was then flown to the International Criminal Court in The Hague to face charges of crimes against humanity resulting from the conflict but eventually acquitted.

He has occupied himself by visiting former president and also rival Henri Konan Bedie, held “reconciliation” talks with Ouattara but has fallen out for good with his former prime minister Pascal Affi N’Guessan, who heads a faction of his former Ivorian Popular Front (FPI).

Leaving the FPI behind, Gbagbo now expects around 1,600 delegates will show support at the congress hosted at Abidjan’s prestigious Hotel Ivoire where his new “African People’s Party – Cote d’Ivoire” (PPA-CI) will look to draw up a manifesto.

The mooted party logo comprises two intertwined hands clasping a map of Africa with the accent on a Pan-African dimension.

Indeed one of the major congress themes will be African sovereignty in the face of the abiding influence of Western powers.

The new party hopes to reshape domestic debate in a country where the opposition has become increasingly hollowed out over the past decade.

“We want to constitute a normal opposition party which brings a critique” to the table to enable “debate to leave violence behind and become essentially political,” says Kone Katinan.

“We are waiting to see if this will be a real opposition or a party seeking power. We shall see how they go about things, what will be their alternative programme,” notes political analyst Sylvain N’Guessan.

Crimping Gbagbo’s ambitions could be a bill designed to limit the age of presidential candidates to 75. He will turn 80 in 2025.

Source: Africanews

Regional

ICC lifts arrest warrant on Ivory Coast’s Simone Gbagbo

Maravi Post Reporter

– –

The International Criminal Court (ICC) has decided to lift an international arrest warrant issued for former Ivory Coast first lady Simone Gbagbo.

The court had issued the arrest warrant against Simone Gbagbo who was facing accusations of crimes against humanity, but Ivory Coast refused to extradite her to the Hague.

Those crimes were allegedly committed during the country’s 2010-2011 post-election crisis after her husband, former President Laurent Gbagbo refused to hand over power to current president Alassane Ouattara.

The ICC said “the evidence on which the arrest warrant for Simone Gbagbo was based could no longer be considered sufficient. This warrant, therefore deemed inappropriate, ceases to take effect”.

Simone Gbagbo was released from prison in 2018 after she benefited from an amnesty granted by President Ouattara.

– –

She was serving a 20-year prison term for undermining state security at the time after she was convicted of offences against the state during the brief 2011 civil war.

Her 2017 acquittal was overturned by the country’s Supreme Court and had her cleared of crimes against humanity by an Ivorian Court.

Ex-president Laurent Gbagbo who has already filed for divorce from Simone was also cleared of all charges of crimes against humanity this year, allowing him to return to Ivory Coast last month.

The former president and President Ouattara also held a historic meeting for the first time in a decade on Tuesday.

– –

Ivory Coast’s Ouattara and Gbagbo meet after 10 years

Source: Africafeeds.com

Source: Africa Feeds

Regional

Ivory Coast’s Ouattara and Gbagbo meet after 10 years

Maravi Post Reporter

– –

Ivory Coast’s key political rivals, President Alassane Ouattara and his predecessor Laurent Gbagbo have met face to face for the first time in 10 years.

The two held a meeting on Tuesday as part of efforts to reconcile and forge national unity amid political tension.

It was the tension between the two political rivals in the wake of the 2010-2011 post-election dispute that sparked a brief civil way a decade ago.

That conflict led to the death of more than 3,000 people and got Gbagbo facing trial at the Hague.

Laurent Gbagbo spent a decade in exile, facing years of legal procedures at the International Criminal Court.

– –

The ex-president and his right-hand man Charles Ble Goude were acquitted of crimes against humanity by the International Criminal Court (ICC).

Judges dismissed an appeal by prosecutors over the 2019 decision to clear him and Ble Goude over the post-electoral violence.

Gbagbo said he had urged Ouattara to continue reconciliation efforts by freeing other prisoners from the civil war period.

“I told the president – and you will agree with me – I was their leader and I am out today. They are in prison. I would like the president to do all he can to free them,” Gbagbo told reporters.

– –

After Tuesday’s meeting Gbagbo’s spokesman Justin Katinan Kone said people should “not to make too much” of the meeting.

“This is a courtesy visit to his elder… If it helps to ease the political atmosphere, so much the better,” Kone said.

Ouattara meanwhile said he and Gbagbo would continue to meet, and invited others to join them, probably after August.

“It is important for everyone to know that we have decided to restore trust and ensure that Ivorians reconcile and trust each other as well. The past events have been painful. Too many died and we must try to put that behind us,” Ouattara said.

Government spokesman Amadou Coulibaly said that Dialogue in Ivory Coast “will continue, because that is the government’s will”.

Gbagbo since his return has already met with some major opposition figures like the former president and political rival Henri Konan Bédié.

Tanzania: Opposition leader Mbowe charged with terrorism

Source: Africafeeds.com

Source: Africa Feeds

Regional

Ivorian political rivals Ouattara and Gbagbo to meet

Maravi Post Reporter

– –

The President of Ivory Coast Alassane Ouattara is to hold a face to face meeting with his rival and predecessor Laurent Gbagbo on July 27, 2021.

A presidential spokesperson who made the announcement on Wednesday said this will be the first for the two since Gbagbo’s return to Abidjan last month.

Laurent Gbagbo had spent a decade in exile, facing years of legal procedures at the International Criminal Court for a brief civil war that took place in 2010.

The ex-president and his right-hand man Charles Ble Goude were acquitted of crimes against humanity by the International Criminal Court (ICC).

Judges dismissed an appeal by prosecutors over the 2019 decision to clear him and Ble Goude over the post-electoral violence.

– –

More than 3,000 people were killed in the civil war that followed the disputed 2010 vote when Mr. Gbagbo refused to step down despite losing.

Ivorian president Alassane Ouattara said in April that his predecessor can return home, which he did.

The anticipated meeting later this month is seen by observers as a move towards national reconciliation.

Gbagbo since his return has already met with some major opposition figures like the former president and political rival Henri Konan Bédié.

– –

Ex-president Gbagbo was the first head of state to stand trial at the tribunal. He denied all charges over the bloodshed.

His trial started in January 2016, but three years later judges found that prosecutors had “failed to satisfy the burden of proof to the requisite standard.”

It was one of the ICC’s biggest failures since it was set up in 2002 as the world’s only permanent war crimes court.

Laurent Gbagbo back home in Ivory Coast after 10 years

Source: Africafeeds.com

Source: Africa Feeds

Regional

Laurent Gbagbo back home in Ivory Coast after 10 years

Maravi Post Reporter

– –

Former President of Ivory Coast, Laurent Gbagbo has returned to his home country after ten years.

He has been away, facing trial for crimes against humanity on the back of the brief civil war that took place in 2010 in Ivory Coast.

The ex-president and his right-hand man Charles Ble Goude were acquitted of crimes against humanity by the International Criminal Court (ICC).

Judges dismissed an appeal by prosecutors over the 2019 decision to clear him and Ble Goude over the post-electoral violence.

More than 3,000 people were killed in the civil war that followed the disputed 2010 vote when Mr. Gbagbo refused to step down despite losing.

– –

Ivorian president Alassane Ouattara said in April that his predecessor can return home.

On Thursday the former president touched down on home soil amid chants and jubilation from his supporters.

Gbagbo said after arriving home that he was “happy about being back in Ivory Coast and Africa.

Because (inaudible) I know that I am from Ivory Coast but in prison, I knew that I belonged to Africa, all of Africa, all of Africa supported me (inaudible) as well as my people, most of Africa.”

– –

Gbagbo was the first head of state to stand trial at the tribunal. He denied all charges over the bloodshed.

His trial started in January 2016, but three years later judges found that prosecutors had “failed to satisfy the burden of proof to the requisite standard.”

It was one of the ICC’s biggest failures since it was set up in 2002 as the world’s only permanent war crimes court.

Source: Africafeeds.com

Source: Africa Feeds

Regional

ICC upholds acquittal of ex-Ivorian president Gbagbo

Maravi Post Reporter

Gbagbo’s trial started in January 2016, but three years later judges said they had found that prosecutors had “failed to satisfy the burden of proof to the requisite standard.”

It was one of the ICC’s biggest failures since it was set up in 2002 as the world’s only permanent war crimes court.

Prosecutors then appealed, focusing on what they said was a procedural error when judges in 2019 initially handed down the decision orally, and did not issue a full written judgement until months later.

But the ICC dismissed the prosecution arguments on Wednesday, saying it was “self-evident” the verdict had been the same whatever the timing of the written judgement had been.

The appeals judges also upheld the original findings that the evidence offered against Gbagbo was “exceptionally weak”.

The verdict on Wednesday was being closely watched in Ivory Coast, where Gbagbo’s shadow still hangs over a nation that remains mired in political crisis.

Gbagbo was president from 2000 to 2010, a time of turmoil in the world’s top cocoa grower, formerly a haven of peace and prosperity in troubled West Africa.

His old foe Ouattara ignited fresh unrest last year when he announced he would seek a third term in office — a scheme that critics said sidestepped constitutional limits.

Clashes claimed 87 lives while most of the opposition snubbed the October ballot — which Ouattara won by a landslide.

But after Ouattara offered to give Gbagbo passports to aid his return, Gbagbo’s Ivorian Popular Front (FPI) party ended a years-long electoral boycott.

Wednesday’s judgment was key for the credibility of the ICC after a string of high-profile failures and controversies over the fact that it has largely focused on African suspects.

Outgoing ICC prosecutor Fatou Bensouda suffered a series of setbacks including the Gbagbo case and the acquittal on appeal of DR Congo former vice president Jean-Pierre Bemba.

Kenyan President Uhuru Kenyatta also saw charges of crimes against humanity over electoral bloodshed dropped by Bensouda.

Bensouda meanwhile is under US sanctions for an ICC probe into Afghanistan, while her investigation into the Palestinian territories has enraged Israel and Washington.

Source

Malawi

Malawi undecided on ICC pull out, Peter should ask what Bingu would do?

Maravi Post Reporter

ICC HeadQuarters
ICC HeadQuarters

Chad’s President Idriss Deby, elected African Union chairman at the two-day summit getting the reigns from Robert Mugabe of Zimbabwe even a bigger critic, criticised International criminal court (ICC_ for focusing its efforts on African leaders.

“Elsewhere in the world, many things happen — many flagrant violations of human rights — but nobody cares,” Deby said at the close of the summit late Sunday, which had an official theme of protecting human rights.

Continue reading Malawi undecided on ICC pull out, Peter should ask what Bingu would do? →