Charles Blé Goudé considers that he is subject to "judicial harassment". In an interview broadcast Monday, November 11 on France 24, the former head of the "Young Patriots" Ivorian, assured that it was trying to "prevent him from participating in the political debates of his country" and to get involved in the presidential campaign of 2020.
"We can not eternally use the judiciary to bring about a political agenda, even Felix Houphouet-Boigny did not do it," he continued, targeting Ivorian President Alassane Ouattara.
>> To see: Charles Blé Goudé in Ivorian justice
The former right-hand man of Laurent Gbagbo will be tried by a criminal court in Abidjan for alleged crimes committed between 2010 and 2011. He was acquitted at first instance of crimes against humanity by the International Criminal Court and is currently on parole in the Netherlands, pending consideration of the Prosecutor's appeal by the ICC.
Blé Goudé was elected in August in Abidjan at the head of his party and does not hide his presidential ambitions. In the 2000s he was nicknamed "the general of the streets" for his ability to mobilize the supporters of the then President, Laurent Gbagbo, thanks to the Young Patriots movement, often described as a militia.
Its detractors and international NGOs consider that it was one of the main actors in the escalation of tension in Côte d'Ivoire in the 2000s, which culminated in 2010-2011 in the post-election violence that lasted more than three years. 000 dead.