• Latest
  • Trending
Ivory Coast ex-President Gbagbo goes free at ICC court in The Hague

Ivory Coast ex-President Gbagbo goes free at ICC court in The Hague

January 15, 2019
Gov’t proposes ₵1 Tax on petroleum products to tackle power crisis under new energy levy bill

Gov’t proposes ₵1 Tax on petroleum products to tackle power crisis under new energy levy bill

June 3, 2025
June 3rd Disaster: One Ghana Movement steps up as Government fails to fund 10th Anniversary ceremony

June 3rd Disaster: One Ghana Movement steps up as Government fails to fund 10th Anniversary ceremony

June 3, 2025
BoG to crack down on hidden bank charges and digital lending practices

BoG to crack down on hidden bank charges and digital lending practices

June 3, 2025
Wontumi makes first appearance at NPP head office after release

Wontumi makes first appearance at NPP head office after release

June 3, 2025
Muslim pilgrims arrive in Mecca for Hajj pilgrimage

Muslim pilgrims arrive in Mecca for Hajj pilgrimage

June 3, 2025
Fiaso Chiefs and Farmers appeal for yam storage facility as harvest season commences

Fiaso Chiefs and Farmers appeal for yam storage facility as harvest season commences

June 3, 2025
We support your 24 hour economy policy- FAGE to Mahama

We support your 24 hour economy policy- FAGE to Mahama

June 3, 2025
School selection before exams motivates students to study more – GES reveals

School selection before exams motivates students to study more – GES reveals

June 3, 2025
GES to reduce double track system in high schools by 25%

GES to reduce double track system in high schools by 25%

June 3, 2025
You can count on us- Mahama to Ghanaian Exporters

You can count on us- Mahama to Ghanaian Exporters

June 3, 2025
Take advantage of the cedi appreciation- Mahama to Ghanaian Exporters

Take advantage of the cedi appreciation- Mahama to Ghanaian Exporters

June 3, 2025
Finance Minister disburses nearly GHS 1 billion to district assemblies as first quarter of DACF

Finance Minister disburses nearly GHS 1 billion to district assemblies as first quarter of DACF

June 3, 2025
Happy Ghana
Advertisement
No Result
View All Result
  • Home
  • News
  • Sports
    • International Sports
    • Afcon2017
    • Afcon2019
    • Corporate Knockout
    • U17 World Cup
    • World Cup 2018
  • Entertainment
  • Business
  • Bizarre
  • Feature
  • More
    • Technology
    • Opinion
    • Lifestyle
  • Listen Live
  • Home
  • News
  • Sports
    • International Sports
    • Afcon2017
    • Afcon2019
    • Corporate Knockout
    • U17 World Cup
    • World Cup 2018
  • Entertainment
  • Business
  • Bizarre
  • Feature
  • More
    • Technology
    • Opinion
    • Lifestyle
  • Listen Live
No Result
View All Result
Happy Ghana
No Result
View All Result
Home Sports

Ivory Coast ex-President Gbagbo goes free at ICC court in The Hague

in Sports
Ivory Coast ex-President Gbagbo goes free at ICC court in The Hague
Share on FacebookShare on TwitterShare on Whatsapp

The International Criminal Court (ICC) in The Hague has acquitted Ivory Coast ex-President Laurent Gbagbo.

He had been charged with crimes against humanity in connection with violence following a disputed 2010 election that left 3,000 dead and 500,000 displaced.

Mr Gbagbo was captured in 2011 in a presidential palace bunker by UN and French-backed forces supporting his rival, Alassane Ouattara.

He was the first former head of state to go on trial at the ICC.

What was Mr Gbagbo accused of?

The violence in Ivory Coast, the world’s biggest cocoa producer, came after Mr Gbagbo refused to accept that he had lost a disputed election run-off to Mr Ouattara in 2010.

The five months of violence that followed were described as some of the most brutal clashes the country had ever seen.

During the political stand-off there were bloody clashes and targeted killings in Abidjan in the south, and several hundred were massacred in the western town of Duekoue.

Prosecutors accused Mr Gbagbo of four counts of crimes against humanity, murder, rape and other forms of sexual violence, persecution and “other inhuman acts”. He denied the charges, which he said were politically motivated.

Victims and relatives of victims of the 2010 post-electoral violence gather in Abidjan to protest against the request to release Laurent Gbagbo

ICC judges ruled on Tuesday that he had no case to answer because the prosecution had not managed to prove several charges against him. They have ordered his immediate release.

Presiding Judge Cuno Tarfusser said the prosecution had “failed to demonstrate that public speeches by Gbagbo constituted ordering or inducing the alleged crimes”.

Mr Gbagbo’s supporters whooped, cheered and threw their firsts in the air in the public gallery following the announcement, the BBC’s Anna Holligan reports from the court.

Supporters of Laurent Gbagbo rally outside the ICC, holding up a photo of him and a bottle of champagne

Is this a blow to the ICC?

“Whenever a case involving mass atrocities essentially collapses at the ICC, it does damage to the perception of the court as a credible and effective institution of international justice,” Mark Kersten, author of Justice in Conflict, told the BBC’s Anna Holligan.

“Many are concerned that the court is emerging as an institution where only rebels can be successfully prosecuted,” he added.

The ICC has also seen cases collapse against former DR Congo Vice-President Jean-Pierre Bemba, and former Kenyan President Uhuru Kenyatta.

On the other hand, the ruling demonstrates the judges’ independence and impartiality and makes it harder to push the narrative, popular among those who fear the long arm of the ICC, that the court is a biased weapon of neo-colonial justice used purely to convict African leaders, our correspondent says.

Janet Anderson, a writer for the Justice Tribune, told the BBC: “It’s important also to find people not guilty or to find there isn’t a case to answer if there isn’t one.”

Source: BBC

 

Subscribe to receive notification everytime a new post is published. We promise to be discrete.

Unsubscribe
Previous Post

Normalization Committee Appoints Media Committee

Next Post

If your man can’t satisfy you in bed divorce him -Prophet Kwame Frimpong

Next Post
If your man can’t satisfy you in bed divorce him -Prophet Kwame Frimpong

If your man can't satisfy you in bed divorce him -Prophet Kwame Frimpong

Search

No Result
View All Result

Listen Live

BBC Match of the Day Africa

Happy Ghana

Recent News

  • Gov’t proposes ₵1 Tax on petroleum products to tackle power crisis under new energy levy bill
  • June 3rd Disaster: One Ghana Movement steps up as Government fails to fund 10th Anniversary ceremony
  • BoG to crack down on hidden bank charges and digital lending practices
  • About
  • advertise
  • Privacy Policy
  • Contact Us

© 2025 Happy FM – Powered by Ghana’s leading radio network. Designed with passion by Global Media Alliance.

No Result
View All Result
  • Home
  • News
  • Sports
    • International Sports
    • Afcon2017
    • Afcon2019
    • Corporate Knockout
    • U17 World Cup
    • World Cup 2018
  • Entertainment
  • Business
  • Bizarre
  • Feature
  • More
    • Technology
    • Opinion
    • Lifestyle
  • Listen Live

© 2025 Happy FM – Powered by Ghana’s leading radio network. Designed with passion by Global Media Alliance.