Ivory Coast President Ouattara pardons predecessor Gbagbo

Ivory Coast President Alassane Ouattara announced on Saturday that he had pardoned his predecessor Laurent Gbagbo, who faced a 20-year prison sentence over political unrest in 2018.

“In the interest of strengthening social cohesion, I signed a decree granting a presidential pardon,” Ouattara said in a speech marking the 62nd anniversary of the country’s independence.

The President said he had asked for Gbagbo’s bank accounts to be unblocked and his annuity paid.

Ouattara also said he had signed a decree for the conditional release of two of Gbagbo’s closest associates, former naval chief Vagba Faussignaux and a former commander of a key gendarmerie unit, Jean-Noel Abehi, both convicted of their roles in the post-election unrest had been.

Gbagbo was acquitted by the International Criminal Court (ICC) of alleged war crimes committed during the 2011 civil war that erupted after he refused to recognize Ouattara’s victory in the presidential election a year earlier.

But in 2018 an Ivorian court handed Gbagbo a 20-year sentence in absentia for looting the Central Bank of West African States (BCEAO) during the country’s post-election crisis.

After his acquittal by the ICC, Gbagbo returned from exile in 2021 and founded a new political party, but has since kept a low profile, despite saying he wanted to remain in politics until his death.

Since his return to the country, there has been no attempt to detain him based on the 2018 conviction.

The announcement of the pardon comes just weeks after a July 14 meeting between Outtara, Gbagbo and another former president, Henri Konan Bedie.

Ouattara described the occasion in his speech on Saturday as a “fraternal meeting” in which the three men “discussed, in a friendly atmosphere, matters of national interest and the ways and means of consolidating peace in our country.”

Both Gbagbo and Bedie were invited to Sunday’s Independence Day celebrations in Yamoussoukro, the country’s political capital.

In 2020, the ex-presidents had challenged Outtara’s candidacy for a new term – which they believed was unconstitutional – with that election also sparking political violence.

But reconciliation efforts began the following year during parliamentary elections, which passed without major incident.

Although Ouattara’s party won that election, it allowed the opposition to return to the National Assembly, including Gbagbo’s supporters, who had boycotted all elections since his defeat in 2010 after 10 years in power.

A “political dialogue” is currently underway between the government, parties and civil society organizations with the aim of being able to conduct local elections in 2023 and the next presidential election in 2025 without violence.

Political life in Ivory Coast has been dominated for more than 20 years by Ouattara, Bedie and Gbagbo, aged 80, 88 and 77 respectively.