Ivory Coast: Laurent Gbagbo soon in Abidjan?

Some Ivorians are waiting to see. Others from Yopougon to Gagnoa, passing through Blokoss, the strongholds of ex-president Laurent Gbagbo, are already jubilant. After several months of waiting, the former head of state, Laurent Gbagbo, this Friday, December 4, recovered his two passports, one ordinary, the other diplomatic, signed by President Alassane Ouattara. They were presented to him by the head of cabinet of the Ivorian Minister of Foreign Affairs and the Ivorian ambassador in Brussels. Since his arrest in April 2011, Laurent Gbagbo no longer had a travel document.

From now on, the ex-president hopes to return to Côte d’Ivoire, during this month of December. A return to the country expected by his supporters for nine years and perhaps a chance to see the political climate, still tense after the presidential election in October, calm down?

An act which “goes in the direction of appeasement” for the Gbagbo clan

On parole in Brussels after his acquittal at first instance by the International Criminal Court (ICC), “President Laurent Gbagbo received today (Friday) two passports, one ordinary and one diplomatic” declared his lawyer M^e Habiba Touré in a press release. “He plans to return to Côte d’Ivoire during the month of December,” said the lawyer very clearly, explaining that Laurent Gbagbo had asked the secretary general of the Front populaire ivoirien (FPI, the party he founded ), Assoa Adou, to “approach the competent authorities in order to organize his return in peace”.

A source close to the Ivorian presidency confirmed that two passports had been issued to him.

Laurent Gbagbo, aged 75, was arrested at the end of the post-electoral crisis of 2010-2011 – born of his refusal to accept his defeat to Alassane Ouattara in the presidential election and which left 3,000 dead – and transferred to the ICC in 2011. He was acquitted of crimes against humanity at first instance in January 2019. An appeal is still under consideration.

The ex-president, still very popular among his supporters, “welcomed” the issuance of this passport as an “act which (…) goes in the direction of appeasement” and asks the Ivorian authorities “to make another no more towards easing the socio-political climate ”.

The climate is still tense a month after the presidential election which saw the re-election of President Alassane Ouattara for a controversial third term, an election marked by unrest that left at least 85 dead and nearly 500 injured.

“This return of Laurent Gbagbo, who has almost the image of a martyr after his years in prison at the ICC, is a way for the regime of President Alassane Ouattara to appease the tense socio-political climate, now that he has been re-elected”, believes political scientist Sylvain N’Guessan. Gbagbo “returns with an aura that will galvanize his political family and should generate a new dynamic for the opposition”, he adds.

« Here is a thing done, rejoiced the ex-first lady of Ivory Coast Simone Gbagbo, our president, our leader has finally received a diplomatic passport and even an ordinary passport. Let us pray to God that he will come back to us as quickly as possible. He must take his part in the fight. Let’s get ready, let’s wait for it, it’s going to be a big party. ”

Negotiations with power

The passport drama had been going on for several months. M^e Habiba Touré had accused the authorities in July of refusing him, in particular so that he could not return to his country for the presidential election of October 31.

Laurent Gbagbo’s candidacy in this election was presented in Côte d’Ivoire by his supporters, but invalidated by the Constitutional Council. His return is among the subjects under discussion between the authorities and part of the opposition which does not recognize the re-election of President Ouattara.

He had repeatedly stated that he was in favor of Laurent Gbagbo returning to Côte d’Ivoire. From a presidential source, it was appreciated that Gbagbo did not call for “civil disobedience” like the rest of the opposition in the presidential election, and was unfavorable to the participation of his party’s cadres in the “National Council of transition ”proclaimed by opponents, supposed to replace the Ouattara regime.

These disturbances led to the arrest of political figures, including the spokesperson for the opposition, former Prime Minister Pascal Affi N’Guessan and Maurice Guikahué, number two in the main opposition party. “We cannot jail political leaders because they have asserted their right to say no to an unconstitutional third term,” according to Mr.^e Touré, citing former President Gbagbo, calling for “the release of all unjustly imprisoned political and civil society leaders”.

Laurent Gbagbo also still faces a 20-year prison sentence by the Ivorian justice for the “robbery” of the Central Bank of West African States during the 2010-2011 crisis. “There will certainly be discussions on this subject” for his return, a source close to the presidency told AFP, specifying that only “a pardon or a presidential amnesty” can lift this sentence.

Still, the International Criminal Court has yet to rule on the appeal filed by the prosecutor, Fatou Bensouda. Until very recently, the Ivorian government affirmed that it was only once Laurent Gbagbo’s case had been definitively closed by the ICC that his return would be possible.