ICC judges acquit former Ivory Coast president Gbagbo
THE HAGUE, NETHERLANDS— Delivering a stinging defeat to prosecutors at the International Criminal Court, judges on Tuesday acquitted former Ivory Coast President Laurent Gbagbo and former youth minister Charles Blé Goudé of responsibility for crimes committed following disputed elections in 2010, saying the prosecution failed to prove their case.
Presiding Judge Cuno Tarfusser ordered the immediate release of the 73year-old Gbagbo and 47-year-old Blé Goudé following the judgment that came before their lawyers even had to present a case. Tarfusser later suspended that order ahead of a follow-up hearing on Wednesday.
Prosecutors can appeal. In a written statement, they called the ruling "disappointing and unexpected" and said they would analyze the written decision when it is published "and assess the appropriate next steps."
Gbagbo was the first former president to go on trial at the global court and his case was seen as a milestone in efforts to bring to justice even the highest-ranking leaders accused of atrocities.
More than 3,000 people were killed after Gbagbo refused to accept defeat by his rival and current Ivory Coast President Alassane Ouattara.
Tarfusser said a majority of the threejudge trial panel ruled that "the prosecutor has failed to satisfy the burden of proof" against both men.
He said it was a matter of public record that Ivory Coast was wracked by postelection violence in 2010 and early 2011, but he said prosecutors did not present evidence that Gbagbo and Blé Goudé formulated a plan for their supporters to unleash violence to keep Gbagbo in power. Prosecutors also failed to prove that speeches by both men incited violence, Tarfusser said.
Neither Gbagbo nor Blé Goudé spoke in court. Gbagbo's lawyer Emmanuel Altit called it a victory for justice.
"It's also a victory for a man who was wrongly accused, President Gbagbo," Altit told reporters. Both men are expected to return to Ivory Coast, although it remains unclear when that will be possible.
Rights groups lamented the ruling's effect on victims.
"The acquittal of Gbagbo and Blé Goudé is a crushing disappointment to victims of post-election violence" in Ivory Coast, said Marie-Evelyne Petrus Barry, Amnesty International's West and Central Africa director.
Karim Traore, 36, is one of those victims.
"I lost my arm in 2011 because of proGbagbo forces," he said. "We do not understand the decision of the International Criminal Court to release the former president. We, the victims, have not been heard and it is a real shame."
Amal Nassar of the International Federation for Human Rights called on prosecutors to appeal.
"The ICC as a whole should learn from its difficulties in convicting (former) political leaders bearing the highest responsibility in the perpetration of crimes and revise adequately its policy," Nassar said in a statement.
As Tarfusser announced the acquittals, supporters of Gbagbo and Blé Goudé stood and cheered in the courtroom's gallery. In Ivory Coast, there was an outburst of joy and relief in the Abidjan neighbourhood of Yopougon, a Gbagbo stronghold. "