The former president of the Ivory Coast Laurent Gbagbo and Charles Blé Goudé, a close ally and former political youth leader, have been exonerated of crimes against humanity charges on Tuesday morning, by Judges at the International Criminal Court (ICC) in The Hague, where they have been standing trial.
Gbagbo, the first former head of state to go on trial at the ICC, faced four counts of crimes against humanity, including murder, rape, persecution and other inhumane acts during post-electoral violence in Ivory Coast between December 2010 and April 2011, when Gbagbo refused to accept defeat by rival Alassane Ouattara.
According to reports from British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC), legal experts say that during the trial, prosecutors presented a lot of evidence crimes occurred, but few witnesses could link the ex-Ivory Coast leader directly.
“Put simply, it appears that the judges are not convinced that the prosecution’s evidence is sufficient to warrant the trial continuing,” Mark Kersten, author of Justice in Conflict, explained to BBC.
About 3,000 people were killed in the West African nation in a violent standoff in 2010-2011 when Gbagbo refused to accept defeat in an election against his bitter rival and now Ivorian President Alassane Ouattara.
The international community, including former colonial power France backed Ouattara as the winner, and Gbagbo was eventually arrested by Ouattara’s troops aided by UN and French forces and sent to The Hague for trial in November 2011.
Prosecutors said Gbagbo, the first former head of state to be handed over to the ICC, clung to power “by all means” in the world’s largest cocoa producer.
After numerous delays, Gbagbo’s trial opened in 2016 with the prosecution calling more than 80 witnesses.
DIPO OLADEHINDE
