The appeals chamber at the International Criminal Court (ICC) has ruled by a majority that former Ivory Coast president Laurent Gbagbo will stay in detention as judges consider a prosecution appeal against his acquittal.
In a ruling issued today, judges cited the prosecution submission that Gbagbo might abscond from the court if freed. They scheduled a hearing on the appeal starting on February 1.
Judges Howard Morrison and Piotr Hofmanski disagreed with keeping the 73-year-old former head of state in detention while judges Chile Eboe-Osuji, Luz del Carmen Ibáñez Carranza, and Solomy Balungi Bossa ruled in favor.
On January 15, Trial Chamber I acquitted Gbagbo and his former cabinet minister Charles Blé Goudé, after determining that there was no need for them to present their evidence since the prosecution had failed to satisfy the burden of proof in relation to several core elements of the case. The next day, the trial chamber ordered their unconditional release.
The prosecutor then moved to the appeals chamber to halt the release of the accused. She argued that, were Gbagbo and Blé Goudé to abscond, the purpose of the appeal could be defeated.
Read more at: https://www.ijmonitor.org/2019/01/gbagbo-to-remain-in-detention-pending-prosecution-appeal/
