I. Coast rights groups say ex-first lady’s trial flawed

Abidjan (AFP) – Ivorian rights groups acting as plaintiffs in the imminent trial of former first lady Simone Gbagbo for crimes against humanity pulled out of the process Monday, saying it was flawed.

The wife of former president Laurent Gbagbo goes on trial Tuesday to answer allegations of crimes against prisoners of war, crimes against the civilian population as well as crimes against humanity, during the west African country’s post-electoral violence in 2010 that killed more than 3,000 people.

But in a joint statement the International Federation of Human Rights, the Ivorian League of Human Rights and the Ivorian Movement for Human Rights, claiming to represent nearly 250 victims, said they were “pulling out of the process.”

“Our lawyers have not had access to all stages of the procedures, how can they defend their case?” the head of the Ivorian League of Human Rights told AFP.

The trial lacks “relevance,” Pierre Kouame Adjoumani said.

Simone Gbagbo, nicknamed the “Iron Lady”, “is accused of ‘crimes against humanity’, something she could have only done through an organised group, so why is only she being judged?” he said.

The 66-year-old is currently being held in Ivory Coast’s main city Abidjan after being convicted of “attacking state authority” during the bloody post-poll era when her husband refused to cede power despite losing elections.

Her husband is currently on trial at the International Criminal Court at The Hague for crimes also linked to the unrest.

Tuesday’s trial comes just five days after Ivory Coast’s Supreme Court rejected Simone Gbagbo’s final appeal against her 20-year sentence. 

Ivory Coast, the world’s top cocoa producer, has struggled to return to normalcy after years of civil war, which effectively divided the country between the mainly Christian south and the largely Muslim north.