Ivory Coast’s President Alassane Ouattara on Wednesday said that his predecessor Laurent Gbagbo and his former youth minister Charles Ble Goude have permission to return home following their acquittal on charges of crimes against humanity at the International Criminal Court, reported Reuters.
Last week, the ICC upheld Gbagbo and Goude’s acquittal, with appeals judges confirming that they were finally in the clear over the post-electoral violence that rocked the West African nation in 2010-11. As per the court’s ruling, the prosecutors had failed to present enough evidence to prove their case against the two leaders.
During a meeting with cabinet ministers in Abidjan, the Ivory Coast’s president said arrangements will be made for Gbagbo’s return in accordance with the laws in place, the advantages, and allowances available to former presidents.
Ouattara added that the state will pay for Gbagbo’s return to Cote d’Ivoire along with his family.
The former Ivory Coast president has been living in Brussels under the ICC’s orders since his release from detention in 2019. Last week’s ruling cleared him of four charges of crimes against humanity, including murder, persecution, and rape committed during the conflict.
Over 3,000 people were killed in months of violence after the 2010 election when Gbagbo disputed the results of the vote won by Ouattara and refused to stand down. Gbagbo was eventually forced out of power and became the first head of state to stand trial at the ICC in The Hague.
While Ouattara said Gbagbo was free to return home, he said nothing about a 20-year sentence given to him in absentia in November 2019 by an Ivorian court for misappropriating funds from the regional central bank during the 2010-11 conflict.
Gbagbo’s return is expected to ease political tensions in the world’s top cocoa-producing nation after an October presidential election marred by violence.
