Cote d’Ivore Frees Ex-First Lady Simone Gbagbo After Amnesty

Former Ivory Coast first lady Simone Gbagbo, who had been serving a 20-year jail term, was released on Wednesday, two days after being amnestied … Continue reading Cote d’Ivore Frees Ex-First Lady Simone Gbagbo After Amnesty

By Ignatius Igwe

Updated August 8, 2018

(FILES) In this file photo taken on May 9, 2016 Ivory Coast’s former first lady Simone Gbagbo waves at her supporters as she arrives at Abidjan’s courthouse prior to the opening hearing of her trial over charges of crimes against humanity for her alleged role in the 2010 electoral violence. Ivory Coast President Alassane Ouattara announced on August 6, 2018 amnesties for around 800 people, including former first lady Simone Gbagbo, who is currently behind bars, in the name of national reconciliation. Last week Ivory Coast’s Supreme Court overturned an earlier acquittal ruling handed down to Gbagbo for crimes against humanity. The wife of former president Laurent Gbagbo, in power from 2000 to 2010, will “soon be freed,” Ouattara said during a televised address to the West African nation on the eve of the country’s independence day. ISSOUF SANOGO / AFP

Ivory Coast’s former first lady Simone Gbagbo waves at her supporters as she arrives at Abidjan’s courthouse prior to the opening hearing of her trial over charges of crimes against humanity for her alleged role in the 2010 electoral violence. ISSOUF SANOGO / AFP

Former Ivory Coast first lady Simone Gbagbo, who had been serving a 20-year jail term, was released on Wednesday, two days after being amnestied by President Alassane Ouattara, her lawyer said.

Gbagbo, 69, left the gendarmerie academy in Abidjan where she had been held for seven years, said attorney Blede Dohore. She was expected to head to her home in the district of Cocody, where around a thousand supporters were preparing to welcome her.

AFP