Prosecutor Fatou Bensouda of the International Criminal Court on Monday said she would appeal the acquittal of former Ivory Coast President Laurent Gbagbo, reported Reuters.
A court ruling cleared Gbagbo, the first head of state to stand trial in The Hague, and his deputy Charles Ble Goude, of crimes against humanity in January.
The court at that time said prosecutors had failed to prove any case against him. He was released the following month after more than 7 years in custody for his role in Ivory Coast’s worst-ever crisis. The 2010-2011 bloodshed was triggered by his refusal to accept defeat in a 2010 election against President Alassane Ouattara. The five-month turmoil left at least 3,000 people, mostly Gbagbo opponents, missing or dead.
“The appeal will demonstrate that the trial chamber committed legal and procedural errors which led to the acquittals of Mr. Gbagbo and Mr. Ble Goude on all counts,” Prosecutor Bensouda’s office said.
The ICC prosecutor said the judges had cleared Gbagbo and Goude of all the charges without properly articulating and consistently applying a clearly defined standard of proof. Bensouda said she would ask appeals judges to reverse the acquittal and declare a mistrial, resetting Gbagbo’s legal process.
Bensouda had previously indicated in January that she would appeal against Gbagbo’s acquittal but decided to wait until the court’s full written reasons for the decision came out in July.
Ivory Coast’s former prime minister Pascal Affi N’Guessan, who heads Gbagbo’s Ivorian Popular Front party, condemned the prosecutor’s appeal.
“These are judicial delaying tactics and political doggedness to keep Laurent Gbagbo and Charles Ble Goude as far away from the country as possible to prevent them from participating in Ivory Coast’s political life,” he told AFP.
Georges Armand Ouegnin, the head of a pro-Gbagbo coalition of political parties and civic groups, said he was disappointed by the appeal as he still believes that the two are innocent.
The former Ivory Coast president now stays in Belgium following his acquittal by the Court.
