Côte d’Ivoire: Laurent Gbagbo plans to return home on June 17 Crimes News Against Humanity

A party official said the former president will return to Côte d’Ivoire on June 17 after being acquitted of crimes against humanity at the ICC.

Former Côte d’Ivoire President Laurent Gbagbo plans to return home on June 17 following his own absolution He is accused of crimes against humanity in the International Criminal Court (ICC), according to his party.

Assoa Adou, secretary general of the Ivorian Popular Front (FPI), announced on Monday the date of Gbagbo’s repatriation in front of a crowd that had come to celebrate the former president’s birthday in Abidjan.

Gbagbo, who was president from 2000 until his arrest in 2011, turned 76 on Monday.

The ICC confirmed in March that Gbagbo and his aide Charles Ble Goude were clear in 2010 and 2011 about the devastating post-election violence that shook the West African nation.

More than 3,000 people were killed in the fighting after the 2010 election, when Gbagbo discussed the results of a vote won by incumbent President Alassane Ouattara and refused to cancel.

Eventually, Gbagbo had to be removed from power.

He was arrested in April 2011 and held in northern Côte d’Ivoire before being taken to the ICC.

He became the first head of state to be tried in court, although he and Ble Goud always insisted that they were not guilty of crimes against humanity.

Despite spending years behind bars in the Dutch city, despite being in Brussels awaiting the outcome of his 2019 appeal against acquittal, the former president maintains strong support at home.

“He is the son of Côte d’Ivoire, who is returning after spending 10 years away in unfair conditions,” said Leon Emmanuel Monnet, head of the committee that organizes the return.

“We will do everything we can to ensure that the return of President Gbagbo is done in peace and reconciliation.”

Gbagbo’s return could be complicated by the hefty 20-year sentence he was given in absentia in November 2019 for an unfair use of funds by the Côte d’Ivoire’s central bank.

Ouattara said in April that he was Gbagbo welcome back But he did not say whether he had forgiven his predecessor.

Ouattara said at a cabinet meeting that his government would cover Gbagbo’s travel expenses and “take steps to receive the benefits and allowances of former presidents.”