By AFPMore by this AuthorAbidjan,Former Ivory Coast political leader Charles Ble Goude said Monday he had been sentenced in absentia to 20 years in prison by an Ivorian court over murder, rape and torture charges. Ble Goude was cleared of crimes against humanity at the International Criminal Court in the Hague this year, along with his former boss, Ivory Coast ex-president Laurent Gbagbo. "The court will try him (Ble Goude)" for allegations of "torture, murder, rape", Lebry said in November. GBAGBO'S CASEGbagbo, the first former head of state to stand trial at the ICC, and Ble Goude were tried over responsibility for murder, attempted murder, rape, persecution and "other inhumane acts" during five months of violence, both pleading not guilty. Ble Goude is living in the Netherlands under similar conditions.

Source: Daily Nation December 31, 2019 08:03 UTC