International Criminal Court judges acquit former Ivory Coast president Laurent Gbagbo

AP | Delivering a stinging defeat to prosecutors at the International Criminal Court (ICC), judges on Tuesday acquitted former Ivory Coast President Laurent Gbagbo and former youth minister Charles Ble Goude 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 73-year-old Gbagbo and 47-year-old Ble Goude 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.

Tarfusser said a majority of the 3-judge 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 post-election violence in 2010 and early 2011, but he said prosecutors did not present evidence that Gbagbo and Ble Goude 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 Ble Goude 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 Ble Goude 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.