Ex-Ivorian President, Laurent Gbagbo Acquitted at ICC

Laurent Gbagbo, an ex-Ivorian President has been acquitted at ICC and all charges against him which includes ordering murder and gang rape, related to post-election violence in the West African country in 2011, has been dropped.

Laurent Gbagbo and his former youth minister were acquitted of all charges by the International Criminal Court who ordered their immediate release. Judges who presided over the case ruled that Gbagbo and his then youth minister, Charles Blé Goudé, had no plan to keep ex-Ivorian President in power, and so there was “no need for the defence to submit further defence, as the prosecutor has not satisfied the burden of proof”.

Gbagbo refused to hand over power to Alassane Ouattara, the current president, and about 3,000 people died in the aftermath. Eventually, after French troops and the UN intervened, Gbagbo was prised out of the bunker where he was hiding with his wife, Simone.