By Katarina Hoije

 

ABIDJANE, 01 Feb. - (ANA) - The International Criminal Court ruled that former Ivory Coast President Laurent Gbagbo may be conditionally released pending an appeal against his acquittal on charges of crime against humanity.

 

Judges of the Appeals Chamber said that Gbagbo and co-defendant Charles Ble Goude may reside in a “state willing to accept them on its territory and willing and able to enforce” conditions attached to their release, according to a statement released by the The Hague court on Friday.

 

Gbagbo, 73, was acquitted last month after seven years of detention for his role in Ivory Coast’s worst-ever crisis which was triggered by his refusal to accept defeat in a 2010 election against President Alassane Ouattara. A five-month standoff left at least 3,000 people, mostly Gbagbo opponents, missing or dead.

 

The fighting ended shortly after United Nations and French troops bombed the presidential residence to force Gbagbo and his wife to surrender. Ouattara was sworn in as president weeks after their arrest and comfortably won a 2015 ballot.  - (ANA) -

 

AB/ANA/ 02 February 2019 - - -