I Coast ex-first lady Simone Gbagbo seeks to scrap ICC case
ABIDJA N - Former Ivory oast first lad i one a - bo, freed by amnesty in Abidj an this week, will begin moves to have her case at the International Criminal Court (ICC) scrapped, her lawyer Rodrigue Dadj e announced on Thursday. bagbo, who had been serving a 2 -year jail term, was released on Wednesday, two days after being pardoned by resident Alassane Ouattara. The -year-old wife of former president aurent bagbo had served seven years after being found guilty of endangering state security in connection with post-election violence that claimed around , lives in 2 - . However, she is still wanted by the ICC in The Hague, which issued a warrant for her arrest in 2 2. In 2 , Ouattara said he would "no longer send" Ivorian nationals to the court, as the country now had a "functioning justice system." aurent bagbo has been in detention at the international court for seven years and has been on trial since 2 for alleged crimes against humanity. The bagbos retain a groundswell of support within the Ivorian opular Front, the party they co-founded in the s but which has since split into two factions. "In September, Simone bagbo s defence team will begin a procedure at the ICC to annul the charges against her," Dadje told AF . But the Hague court stressed that the arrest warrant against the former first lady remains in place. "Any amnesty granted has no impact on the workings of the ICC," the court said in a statement. About , people died in the turmoil that swept Ivory Coast s economic capital Abidjan in the aftermath of the November 2 presidential polls when bagbo refused to accept that he had been defeated by bit- ter rival Ouattara.