ICC: Laurent Gbagbo and Charles Blé Goudé in search of unconditional freedom

Text by: Stéphanie Maupas

Hearings in the Gbagbo-Blé Goudé case are scheduled to begin before the International Criminal Court on February 6. The former Ivorian president demands the lifting of the conditions attached to his release, including the ban on leaving Brussels where he resides since his acquittal on January 15, 2019. The lawyers of Côte d'Ivoire oppose it.

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From our correspondent in The Hague,

In the background, the question of the return of Laurent Gbagbo to Côte d'Ivoire will be at the heart of the hearings scheduled for February 6 before the International Criminal Court (ICC). For his lawyer, Maître Emmanuel Altit, the conditions imposed on the release of the former president since February 1, 2019 amount to " prohibiting him from participating in Ivorian public life and preventing him from participating in the reconciliation process " then " that opens an important political period for the country and for reconciliation, that of the preparation of the presidential elections of 2020 ”.

Acquitted on 15 January 2019 of the crimes against humanity which they were accused of, Laurent Gbagbo and Charles Blé Goudé nevertheless remain subject to a series of conditions, including the prohibition to leave the city where they reside respectively - Brussels and The Hague - without express authorization from the Court. The Paris lawyer denounces an " arbitrary " decision which, if upheld, would make the International Criminal Court responsible for " interference in Ivorian political life " and " interference in national reconciliation ".

Côte d'Ivoire lawyers face judges

Opposite, the lawyers of the Ivory Coast are formal: " The return of Mr. Gbagbo in Ivory Coast (...) would be a factor of serious disorder ". Jean-Paul Benoit and Jean-Pierre Mignard believe that the lifting of the conditions imposed on Laurent Gbagbo, before the final closure of the case, "would put Côte d'Ivoire in the same troubled situation as that which had motivated the referral of the Court ”, in 2011. Thursday, February 6, lawyers from Côte d'Ivoire will be present in The Hague. For the first time since the start of this case in 2011, they have been allowed to plead. They will have twenty minutes to dissuade the judges from modifying the restrictions imposed a year ago on the two Ivorians. Jean-Paul Benoit and Jean-Pierre Mignard oppose any change.

In their brief, they write that " Mr. Gbagbo's behavior is unpredictable " and that the gravity of the charges, the risk of a heavy conviction on appeal, the existence of a network of supporters and the means available to Laurent Gbagbo, could make him flee. These arguments, already put forward by the prosecutor, had convinced the judges, a year ago, to limit a possible “ risk of absconding ” before the appeal on the merits was decided. In the meantime, the two French lawyers believe that the freedom of Laurent Gbagbo is reduced to what is strictly necessary, " to guarantee his representation before the justice system, as well as the security of all, including his own . For them, the decision on limited freedom is " fair, balanced and proportionate. "

Does the Prosecutor's Call Justify Day Parole ?

For Laurent Gbagbo's lawyers, the battle promises to be tough. They will have to convince the Appeals Chamber to reverse its own decision. However, in a preparatory document for the hearing, the judges asked the lawyers and the prosecutor to prepare to answer a question, which they said was " at the heart of the proceedings ": that of whether the appeal presented by the prosecutor in mid-October, still justifies the restrictions imposed on the release of Laurent Gbagbo and Charles Blé Goudé.

In her appeal, the prosecutor asked the judges to set aside the acquittal and instead dismiss it. Fatou Bensouda clarified that she is not asking for the resumption of the trial, arrested after the hearing of 82 witnesses called by her deputy Eric McDonald, after the defense has given up presenting its own witnesses for the defense. She added that it would be possible to start the whole business over again, but did not request it. Fatou Bensouda asks the judges to order the dismissal and to let her decide the consequences. When questioned, the prosecutor's office did not give details. But technically, the acquittal definitively puts an end to the case while the dismissal would leave the file open, and the possibility of bringing a new lawsuit against Laurent Gbagbo, not necessarily before the International Criminal Court.

The appeal chamber will not decide before the elections

If the judges were to lift the conditions issued a year ago, the two acquitted have already made it known that they wanted to join Côte d'Ivoire. In this case, the case would enter a new phase. The former president still does not have a passport. And like Charles Blé Goudé, he was sentenced in absentia to twenty years in prison, by the Ivorian justice. For his part, the boss of the COJEP [Coordination of Young Patriots], a party he took over during the summer, began his return to politics for months and denounced, in early January, shortly after his conviction to Abidjan, an instrumentalization of justice by the power in place.

From Brussels, Laurent Gbagbo remains more discreet. The ex-president receives friends and politicians but has made no public appearance, except in a short video released in early December. We see him in the streets of Brussels, wearing a pair of tennis shoes from the brand with three bands, immediately renamed on social networks the "Koudoudas" or the "Gbagbodas", "the shoe of acquittal". If the judges uphold their decision, Laurent Gbagbo and Charles Blé Goudé will therefore remain subject to these conditions until the appeal is decided. The hearings will not open until July, at the earliest, once the lawyers have received the revised translation of the acquittal decision in French. It usually takes several months before the judges conclude their deliberations, well after October, presidential month in Côte d'Ivoire.

► Read also : Laurent Gbagbo acquitted: the story of a turning point at the International Criminal Court

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• Ivory Coast
• Ivory Coast Politics
• Laurent Gbagbo

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