The International Criminal Court has ruled to allow for the release of ex-leader of Ivory Coast, Laurent Gbagbo from detention.
The ruling by the ICC judges on Friday however came with conditions. Mr. Gbagbo’s release will be implemented provided he is accepted by a country.
That country however must be willing to co-operate in enforcing any future decisions made by the ICC. It is not clear which country will be willing to accept Mr. Gbagbo.
Last month there were reports that he wanted to return to his home country Ivory Coast after the court acquitted him of all war crimes charges.
Gbagbo has been serving a prison term for committing crimes against humanity. He has so far spent seven years in detention.
Despite Gbagbo’s acquittal the 73-year-old remains behind bars.
ICC Prosecutors succeeded in applying to have Mr. Gbagbo detained further while an appeal against his acquittal is heard.
Gbagbo’s lawyers on Friday made a case to the ICC judges to free him.
In a statement after the court decision, the ICC prosecutor, Fatou Bensouda said in a statement that “We note the decision of the Appeals Chamber.
The Prosecution’s position was that we would be amenable to release with a set of conditions attached. These conditions would be to ensure that Messrs Laurent Gbagbo and Charles Blé Goudé would be available before the Court should the trial proceedings against them continue.”
Statement of #ICC Prosecutor #FatouBensouda following the conditional release of Laurent #Gbagbo and Charles #BléGoudé https://t.co/V82Em1PbOF
— Int’l Criminal Court (@IntlCrimCourt) February 1, 2019
Why was Gbagbo arrested?
Violence erupted in Ivory Coast shortly after the 2010 elections when Mr. Gbagbo refused to concede defeat to current president, Alassane Ouattara.
Mr. Gbagbo and his wife Simone, were arrested in 2011 after a brief civil war. He was handed over to the International Criminal Court.
Gbagbo became the first former head of state to be handed over to the ICC and has been on trial since 2016.
He faced four counts of crimes against humanity, including murder, rape, persecution and other inhumane acts during the post-electoral violence between December 2010 and April 2011.
Mr. Gbagbo has however denied the charges, saying they were politically motivated.
Last August Ivory Coast’s former first lady Simone Gbagbo was also released from prison.
Her freedom came thanks to an amnesty granted by the country’s President, Alassane Ouattara. She had been serving a 20-year prison term for undermining state security.
The International Criminal Court also wants Simone to face similar charges, but Ivory Coast has refused to extradite her to The Hague.
Source: Africafeeds.com
