Ivory Coast: these prisoners whose release Gbagbo requested in Ouattara
President Alassane Ouattara and his predecessor Laurent Gbagbo, during a press conference at the presidential palace in Abidjan on July 28, 2021. REUTERS - LUC GNAGO
Text by: RFI Follow
8 mins
The reunion between Laurent Gbagbo and Alassane Ouattara was cordial to say the least this Tuesday July 27 evening in Abidjan.
Politically, the only concrete demand made by Laurent Gbagbo was, as expected, that of the release of prisoners considered "political" by the opposition.
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An embrace for the photographers, a few steps hand in hand and a press conference with all smiles: more than ten years after their last meeting and the post-electoral crisis that bloodied Côte d'Ivoire, the challenge of a peaceful meeting was noted for both men.
But the former president nevertheless raised the issue of "
political
"
prisoners
.
“
I was their leader and I'm out today.
They are in prison
.
And I would like the president to do all he can to free them,
”Laurent Gbagbo told the press after his meeting with Alassane Ouattara.
110 names
Accompanied by three faithful, Georges-Armand Ouegnin, Assoa Adou and Hubert Oulaye, the former president gave his successor a list of 110 names.
The 29 oldest have been in prison since the post-electoral crisis of 2010-2011 and did not benefit from the presidential amnesty of August 2018.
The others are people arrested in 2019 during political tensions in the country, or during the contesting of Alassane Ouattara's third term in October 2020. There is also
Soul-to-Soul
, the right arm of
Guillaume Soro
, recently sentenced to 20 years in prison.
Finally, 6 people arrested on June 17 on the sidelines
of Laurent Gbagbo's return to the country
.
This initiative is welcomed by associations of relatives of detainees, they believe, however, that the number of prisoners they qualify as "opinion" is greater than that.
They are now hoping for a political gesture from President Ouattara.
Désirée Douati, president of the Association of Women and Families of Prisoners of Opinion (Affdo-Ci), hopes that Laurent Gbagbo's plea for the release of detainees will be heard by President Ouattara.
For her, the fact that the matter has been brought to the presidency is a good start.
This list is not complete.
It does not take everyone into account.
We are more than 300 people still in detention.
Désirée Douati, president of the Association of women and families of prisoners of conscience (Affdo-Ci)
Francois Mazet
We are satisfied, yes, it can be said, that President Laurent Gbagbo has asked for the release of the prisoners of conscience, but we will be even more satisfied if this request has a favorable execution.
We expect President Alassane Ouattara to be able to release all prisoners of conscience.
Today, there are 400 people who are detained for their opinions in Côte d'Ivoire, and we believe that for a true reconciliation, it would be good if all these people could regain their freedom.
For Désirée Douati, the figure of 110, announced by Laurent Gbagbo does not correspond to reality.
According to her, many activists from other political stripes must also be taken into account.
This list is not complete. It does not take everyone into account. We are more than 300 people still in detention. So the list of 110 people certainly takes into account the activists of the Ivorian popular front [FPI, Laurent Gbagbo movement]. But apart from the FPI activists, there are PDCI-RDA activists, there are relatives of Mr. Guillaume Soro, who are still in detention, there are even people who do not necessarily belong to a political party. . But there is also the fact that preventive detention in Côte d'Ivoire is 18 months and we have people who have been in detention for nine years without having seen a judge. So here we are entering a situation where there is a “violation” of their rights.
In its dialogue with the authorities, Affdo-Ci tries to make these demands heard, but with mixed feelings about their return.
We are listened to, but we are no longer at the stage of listening.
We really want there to be a real step forward, to have political action taken by the Head of State.
Because the 2018 amnesty - the amnesty order that was issued in 2018, and for which we reiterate our thanks to the Head of State - was not general.
And today we want political action that will allow the general release of all prisoners.
We hope that this is an amnesty order, or a presidential pardon, that will allow the release of all prisoners of conscience.
► To read also:
Ivory Coast: cordial meeting between Alassane Ouattara and Laurent Gbagbo
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