Gbagbo goes on trial for war crimes at ICC

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The war crimes trial against Ivory Coast former president Laurent Gbagbo opened at the International Criminal Court in The Hague on Thursday.
The ICC has accused the 70-year-old and his confidant and co-defendant Charles Ble Goude, 44, of war crimes including murder and rape. Both men have claimed their innocence, reports dpa.
Gbagbo had lost the 2010 presidential elections, but refused to give way to his opponent and current president Alassane Ouattara, leading to a civil war which was ended by French military intervention.
Around 3,000 people were killed in the conflict.
The case has been delayed since the ICC ruled in June 2013 that the prosecution had not presented enough evidence to try Gbagbo.
Gbagbo, who led Ivory Coast from 2000 until his arrest in April 2011, is accused of having engaged his "individual criminal responsibility" in four counts of crimes against humanity in Abidjan, according to the ICC.
These were committed jointly with members of his inner circle and through members of "pro-Gbagbo" forces.
The crimes were allegedly committed between December 16 and 19, 2010, during and after a pro-Ouattara march; on March 3, 2011, at a women's demonstration in Abobo, a northern suburb of Abidjan; on March 17, 2011, "by shelling a densely populated area in Abobo;" and on or around April 12, 2011, in Yopougon, another suburb of the Ivorian capital.
The ICC's charges stem from violence that erupted across Ivory Coast after the international community called for Gbagbo to respect the will of the people and step down.
Gbagbo was arrested by Ouattara's forces, with the support of the French army, at his residence in Abidjan on April 11, 2011.
The ICC issued a warrant for his arrest on October 25, 2011. He was transferred to the ICC detention centre in The Hague by Ivorian authorities on November 30, 2011.

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