Former Ivory Coast President Laurent Gbagbo and Ble Goude will be freed after seven years behind bars on charges of crimes against humanity. The charges related to an alleged campaign of violence launched by Gbagbo after his defeat by AlassaneOuattara in elections in 2010. According to ICC president judge, a majority of the three-judge chamber ruled that “the prosecutor has failed to satisfy the burden of proof” against both men. Around 200 supporters wearing “free Gbagbo” t-shirts, some of them waving Ivory Coast flags, rallied outside the court on Tuesday. A former university professor turned activist, Gbagbo, 73, is the first-ever Head of State to be handed over to The Hague-based ICC.

Source: The North Africa Journal January 16, 2019 15:22 UTC