Ivory Coast President offers presidential pardon to Laurent Gbagbo
The president of Ivory Coast, Alassane Ouattara, on Saturday said he had offered a presidential pardon to longtime rival, Laurent Gbagbo, as part of a reconciliation drive with his predecessors ahead of elections in 2025.
He made the announcement after a rare meeting in July between him, Gbagbo and former president Henri Konan Bedie.
Laurent Gbagbo was the country’s president from 2000-2011 who returned to the country last year after he was acquitted in 2019 by the Hague on war crimes charges for his role in a civil war sparked by his refusal to concede defeat after the 2010 election.
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In Ivory coast, Gbagbo still faced a 20-year prison sentence for a 2019 conviction linked to the robbery of funds from the Abidjan central bank during the post-election period, a charge he has denied.
In a televised speech to the nation ahead of its independence day yesterday, 7th August, 2022, President Ouattara, said he has signed a decree granting a presidential pardon to Gbagbo and also asked for his accounts to be unfrozen in order to further strengthen social cohesion.
The ivory Coast president has also ordered for the payment of the arrears of his presidential lifetime annuity.
Ivory Coast President offers presidential pardon
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