Ivory Coast ex-leader cleared of war crimes

THE former president of the Ivory Coast was acquitted of crimes against humanity by judges at the International Criminal Court (ICC) yesterday in a shock setback to efforts to convict senior statesmen of atrocities.

Laurent Gbagbo, 73, and Charles Blé Goudé, his former youth minister, were facing charges including rape and murder relating to a wave of postelection violence that left 3,000 people dead in 2010-11.

The judges concluded that the prosecution had failed to prove several key parts of the allegations, including the existence of a policy to target civilians and that public speeches amounted to orders to carry out atrocities.

Cuno Tarfusser, the presiding judge, said that the court “by majority hereby decides that the prosecution has failed to satisfy the burden of proof to the requisite standard”. The two men hugged as the verdict was read out.

Mr Gbagbo was the first former head of state to stand trial at the ICC, and human rights campaigners had hoped the case would assist efforts to bring other high-ranking suspects to justice.

Amnesty International described the decision as a “crushing disappointment to victims of post-election violence in Cote d’ivoire”.