Second city of Ivory Coast, Bouaké was the scene, in 2004, of a pivotal episode of the decade of Ivorian crisis. On November 6, 2004, nine French soldiers died in a bombing by the Ivorian army, a file that keeps many gray areas. Shadow areas that will try to lift the trial to be held in Paris from March 17 against the alleged bombers, but in their absence.
>> Ivory Coast: Emmanuel Macron pays tribute to the French soldiers killed in Bouaké 15 years ago
At the time, the country had been split in two since 2002 and the rebellion's attempt - favorable to Alassane Ouattara - to overthrow Laurent Gbagbo. In a tense context, France had deployed the Licorne mission, officially to protect French nationals and try to stabilize the country.
Two days before the bombing, Laurent Gbagbo's forces launched an offensive in an attempt to retake Bouaké and the North. On November 6, 2004, the bombing that claimed the lives of French soldiers was carried out by two Sukhoi fighter jets from the pro-Gbagbo army, piloted by two Belarusian mercenaries. The French army retaliated by destroying most of the Ivorian aviation, which led to the failure of the offensive of the loyalist troops, deprived of air support.
Trial in the absence of the accused
After years of procedure, French justice dropped in May 2019 the prosecution of three former ministers, Michèle Alliot-Marie, Dominique de Villepin and Michel Barnier.
However, there is still an action in progress against a Belarusian ex-mercenary, Yury Sushkin, and two Ivorian officers, Patrice Ouei and Ange Magloire Ganduillet Attualy, accused of having piloted or co-piloted the two Sukhoi planes which bombed the camp. They will be tried from March 17 by the Paris Assize Court for "assassinations, attempted assassinations and destruction of property". The three French ministers will be heard as witnesses. But the accused, them, will be absent: although targeted by an arrest warrant, they have never been handed over to France.
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