ICC suspends release of Cote d'Ivoire's former president Gbagbo

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The International Criminal Court (ICC) at the Hague on Wednesday dashed former Cote d'Ivoire president Laurent Gbagbo's hopes of a swift release following his acquittal a day before on charges of crimes against humanity.

Trial judges had earlier ordered Gbagbo and his right-hand man Charles Ble Goude to be immediately freed after clearing them of any role in a wave of post-electoral violence in 2010-11 that killed 3,000 people.

Celebrations erupted outside the court and Gbagbo's daughter said he planned an emotional homecoming to Cote d'Ivoire, after seven years in detention.

But prosecutors filed a last-ditch challenge late Wednesday to keep the pair behind bars as the ICC mulls an overall appeal against Tuesday's decision to acquit them.

"Pending the decision of the appeals chamber on this prosecutor's request... Mr. Gbagbo and Mr. Ble Goude shall remain in ICC custody," said an ICC spokesperson.

Former Cote d'Ivoire president Laurent Gbagbo during an ICC hearing, The Hague, January 15, 2019. /VCG Photo

The pair can themselves appeal by a deadline of 11:00 GMT on Thursday.

Prosecutors claim there is a risk that if released now, the two might refuse to return to face justice if the court later decides to overturn their acquittal.

The court's decision to clear the two men had come as a major blow to ICC prosecutor Fatou Bensouda, as it was the latest in a series of failed cases against former African leaders.

Gbagbo and Ble Goude have been on trial since January 2016 over the bloodshed that gripped the former French colony after Gbagbo refused to concede defeat to his bitter rival, and now president, Alassane Ouattara in a presidential vote.

Judges stopped the trial midway on Tuesday due to an "exceptionally weak" prosecution case, and earlier on Wednesday, they rejected an initial bid by prosecutors to keep Gbagbo behind bars.

'Overwhelmed with joy'evious

Gbagbo's daughter Marie Laurence had said her father planned to return home after his release.

"We are so overwhelmed with joy, we are proud of dad. He went through it with dignity," she told reporters outside the ICC following the earlier decision.

"We think that it was for a cause and that the message was clear -- an innocent standing for Africa. Justice prevailed, the truth came out."

"We assume that the plan is to go back to Cote d'Ivoire. We don't know how long it will take for all the paperwork."

In Cote d'Ivoire, however, Gbagbo still faces a 20-year jail term for "economic crimes" imposed by a local court last year.

"Any decision lies with him. We have no comment to make otherwise," said Sidi Tiemoko Toure, a spokesperson for Cote d'Ivoire government, when asked about Gbagbo's homecoming.

He added that the government "urges calm, forgiveness and reconciliation" and that Ouattara "and the government are thinking of the victims" of the crisis.

Gbagbo's wife Simone, dubbed as the "Iron Lady, was granted an amnesty by Ouattara last August from a similar 20-year jail term.

Cote d'Ivoire faces fresh elections in 2020 to elect a successor to Ouattara, who has said he will not stand for re-election after serving two five-year terms.

Gbagbo has been behind bars since 2011 when he was captured by Ouattara's troops, aided by UN and French forces, and sent to The Hague.

Violence after the November 2010 election turned Abidjan into a war zone and destabilized the African economic powerhouse, the world's largest cocoa-producing nation.

(Cover: Ivorian people celebrate the acquittal of former Cote d'Ivoire president Laurent Gbagbo in his birth-town Gagnoa, January 15, 2019. /VCG Photo) iousrevious

Source(s): AFP