International Criminal Court : Laurent Gbagbo, Blé Goudé Free

After eight years of detention in Scheveningen Prison in The Hague, The Netherlands, former Côte d’Ivoire President, Laurent Gbagbo and ex-minister, Charles Blé Goudé are finally free after the International Criminal Court, ICC, discharged and acquitted them on January 15, 2019.

Judges ruled that Gbagbo and Goudé had no case to answer because the prosecution failed to prove the four-count charges of crimes against humanity, murder, rape and other forms of sexual violence, persecution and “other inhuman acts,” against them. Presiding Judge Cuno Tarfusser said the prosecution “failed to demonstrate that public speeches by Gbagbo constituted ordering or inducing the alleged crimes,” the British Broadcasting Corporation, BBC reported.

“We are happy! This is what we wanted, justice has been done,” Simone Gbagbo, Laurent Gbagbo’s wife told Jeune Afrique magazine from the family home in Abidjan, Côte d’Ivoire. “This man was kept in prison unjustly for eight years. He can now return to his family, country and party supporters. He was accused of terrible things he never did,” she said. “He must be cleared of this humiliation,” Simone Gbagbo added. “I am too happy! It is well beyond my expectations. Thanks to Ivoirians,” Michel Gbagbo, son of the former Head of State, also told Jeune Afrique from Abidjan.

Arrested in Abidjan on April 11, 2011 and first detained in Korhogo in the north of the country, Laur...