Ivory Coast’s Outtara took ‘power by force’ with French aid: court
Defence lawyers for fallen Ivorian leader Laurent Gbagbo Monday accused his bitter rival President Alassane Ouattara of seizing power by force with the help of French forces after cliff-hanger 2010 elections.
Lawyer Emmanuel Altit alleged at the International Criminal Court that former colonial power France was not interested in a negotiated peace to end the five-month turmoil when Gbagbo refused to concede defeat to Ouattara.
“Ouattara and his supporters wanted to seize power by force and the battle of Abidjan was, simply put, the very implementation of this strategy,” defence lawyer Emmanuel Altit told the court.
Gbagbo and his co-accused Charles Ble Goude, a firebrand militia leader, have denied four charges of crimes against humanity arising out of the turmoil which followed the Ivory Coast vote.
The west African strongman declared himself the winner over Ouattara, but the major powers including France the United States as well as the United Nations backed Ouattara as the winner.
Altit said there was a deliberate campaign to make Gbagbo “out to be some of kind demon” and “paint Ouattara as the good guy.”
“This is not a faithful account of what happened … it’s not particularly realistic,” Altit said.
“This is nothing more than a political narrative that has been heated up and re-served.”
And he told the three judges hearing the trial at the court in The Hague that “perhaps someone wants us to forget” alleged abuses committed by pro-Ouattara forces.
“The plans for military action had been drawn up by the plotters and schemers … in cooperation with French military leaders during the entire crisis,” said Altit.
“A fleet of French military aircraft delivered heavy weapons to pro-Ouattara combatants in the north of Cote d’Ivoire in February and March 2011, once again breaking the UN embargo,” he said, using Ivory Coast’s French name.
The defence is making its opening statements at a trial set to last between three to four years.
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4 Comments
it is an open secret that the powers that be were behind the problems of Ivory Coast seeing how Gbagbo was captured .The fact is Africans are prepared to sell their mothers just to get power knowing full well that a president in Africa or a political post is a licence to wealth. Gbagbo played into the hands of the powers that be who wanted to install their errand boy in place.The question that remains on answered is can the so called tribunal be impartial seeing that the same people who captured president Gbagbo are the same prosecuting him for crimes? Time will tell .
Gbagbo lost an election, instead of him to concede which is the NATURAL THING TO DO IN A DEMOCRACY, he decided to hold on to power and give tacit approval for the decimation of opposition in the GLARE OF THE WHOLE WIDE WORLD. There is no defending the indefensible…
It was not established clearly ,who won the elections in ivory coast. The fact is there were interest groupes that wanted their man in that position. Why is it that the results of the elections were announced by the representative of the United Nations and not the Independent Electoral Commission? Why is it that non of the boys from the camp of A.W now the president were not arrested and prosecuted ?The whole world like you said is manipulated by the US and certain countries in Europe.Is Africa included in your Whole World?A food for thought?
It was not established clearly ,who won the elections in ivory coast. ARE YOU SURE WE ARE TALKING ABOUT THE SAME ELECTION?
THE ONE THAT WAS POSTPONED BECAUSE THE PRESIDO LIKE GEJ WAS AFRAID THAT HE WOULD LOST? AND HE LOST
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