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ICC Prosecutors Appeal Acquittal of Ivory Coast’s Ex-President

ICC Prosecutors Appeal Acquittal of Ivory Coast’s Ex-President

(Bloomberg) -- Prosecutors at the International Criminal Court have appealed a ruling that acquitted Ivory Coast’s former president, Laurent Gbagbo, on charges of crimes against humanity.

The court’s decision in January to dismiss the charges against Gbagbo, 74, and militant youth leader Charles Ble Goude was the result of “legal and procedural errors,” prosecutors said in a filing posted Monday on the website of the The Hague-based court.

Gbagbo was acquitted after seven years of detention for his role in Ivory Coast’s worse-ever crisis which was triggered by his refusal to accept defeat in a 2010 election against President Alassane Ouattara. A five-month standoff left at least 3,000 people, mostly Gbagbo opponents, missing or dead.

He was provisionally released and is living in Brussels, pending the prosecution’s appeal.

To contact the reporter on this story: Katarina Hoije in Abidjan at khoije@bloomberg.net

To contact the editors responsible for this story: Andre Janse van Vuuren at ajansevanvuu@bloomberg.net, John Bowker

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