Former Ivorian President Gbagbo charged with economic crimes

ABIDJAN, IVORY COAST (BNO NEWS) — Former Ivorian President Laurent Gbagbo and his wife Simone Gbagbo have been charged with economic crimes including looting, armed robbery and embezzlement, the BBC reported on Thursday.

Gbagbo and his wife have been under house arrest in separate locations in the north of the country since they were arrested in April. Public prosecutor Simplice Kouadio Koffi said Simone Gbagbo was charged on Tuesday and taken into custody, while her husband was charged on Thursday.

According to the BBC correspondent in Abidjan, John James, the charges against the former president relate to the post-election period when Gbagbo used state funds, including hundreds of millions of dollars from the central bank, in his attempt to stay in power.

The BBC correspondent also said that by charging the couple only with economic crimes, the prosecutor is leaving the way open for the International Criminal Court (ICC) to start an investigation into the post-election violence.

The Ivorian government has requested the ICC’s involvement, saying it is not competent to judge the more serious allegations of violent crimes.

All key figures arrested along with Gbagbo in April had already been charged, except for the former president himself and his wife Simone. Human rights groups had criticized the Ivorian government for holding the pair for four months without charge.

An armed rebellion in 2002 split the country into a Government-controlled south and a rebel-held north. The UN certified election won by Alassane Ouattara in 2010 reunited the country again.

However, before Ouattara could be sworn in as legitimate president, violent tensions shook the country for five months as former president Gbagbo refused to step down. The fighting killed as many as 3,000 people and left up to 1 million Ivoirians displaced.