ABIDJAN, Ivory Coast (AP) — Former President Laurent Gbagbo returned home to Ivory Coast on Thursday, a decade after his refusal to concede defeat in the presidential election sparked months of violence that left more than 3,000 people dead.
Gbagbo was extradited to the International Criminal Court at The Hague in 2011 and spent eight years awaiting trial on war crimes charges. A judge acquitted him in 2019, saying prosecutors had failed to prove their case. The verdict was appealed but upheld in late March, clearing the way for Gbagbo to leave Belgium where he had spent the past two years.
After making his way down the steps to the runway, Gbagbo was escorted to a VIP hall, where he was greeted by political allies and his wife, Simone. She did not attend his trial at The Hague because the ICC also had issued a warrant for her arrest on charges related to the post-election violence.
While the government led by his then-rival President Alassane Ouattara has allowed for Gbagbo’s return to Ivorian soil, there were already concerns about what role the divisive former leader may play in national politics.
Gbagbo's supporters began arriving near the airport at 6 a.m., long before the ex-president had even boarded his flight in Brussels. Tensions between the jubilant crowds and security forces were high, with tear gas being used to disperse people coming to greet Gbagbo.
The ex-president made no comment to journalists before getting into a vehicle to depart the airport. Officials from his political party had said he planned to make a tour of Abidjan to visit supporters in his strongholds, but it was not immediately clear how his flight’s delayed arrival might affect those plans.
THIS IS A BREAKING NEWS UPDATE. AP’s earlier story follows below.
ABIDJAN, Ivory Coast (AP) — Throngs of jubilant supporters headed toward the airport Thursday afternoon awaiting the return of ex-President Laurent Gbagbo nearly a decade after he was extradited abroad to face international war crimes charges.
Gbagbo’s scheduled arrival Thursday afternoon at 4:30 p.m. local (1630 GMT) comes two months after the International Criminal Court at The Hague upheld his acquittal on all charges linked to the post-electoral violence that left more than 3,000 people dead in 2010-2011.
While the Ivorian government led by his longtime rival President Alassane Ouattara has allowed for Gbagbo’s return, there are already concerns about what role the divisive former leader may play in politics.
Gbagbo’s opponents maintain he should be jailed in Ivory Coast, not given a statesman’s welcome. Some demonstrated outside Gbagbo’s residence in the Cocody neighborhood of Abidjan on Wednesday.
Thursday, though, was mostly a day of jubilation for Gbagbo’s supporters, who long have maintained his prosecution was unfair and politically motivated. The ex-president garnered nearly 46% of the vote in 2010 and maintains a strong base of supporters.
“After his arrival we want peace and reconciliation, we want to live together because we were born together so we are obliged to live together” said Chief Tanouh, a traditional leader from the country's east.
Crowds wanting to greet Gbagbo began arriving at Felix Houphouet Boigny airport around 6 a.m., where police lobbied tear gas canisters to keep crowds from entering the reception area, witnesses said.
The ex-president was seen arriving several hours later at the Brussels airport, where his lawyer Habiba Toure said he had checked in for the commercial flight to Abidjan. A small group of Gbagbo supporters had gathered at the airport to see him off.
“We could not miss this opportunity,” supporter Serge Kassy told the AP. “It was important to be here to say goodbye, that we are with him and that we will always be with him.”
Gbagbo’s refusal to accept defeat in the 2010 presidential election sparked months of violence that brought Ivory Coast to the brink of civil war. He has spent much of the past decade since his arrest in the Netherlands awaiting trial on charges of crimes against humanity.
In 2019, the judge said prosecutors had failed to make their case even before the defense lawyers had presented their side. The former president was released from custody but had been living in Belgium pending the outcome of the appeal by ICC prosecutors.
Longtime rival Alassane Ouattara was ultimately declared the winner of the 2010 vote and has been in power ever since. After Gbagbo’s acquittal was upheld, Ouattara said the former president’s travel expenses, and those of his family, would be covered by the state.
It did appear, though, that Ouattara would be on hand to welcome back Gbagbo. Government spokesman Amadou Coulibaly said that was not the protocol for other former heads of state.
“For us, it is a normal arrival of a citizen returning to his country,” he said.
it remains unclear what will become of other pending criminal charges against the ex-president.
Gbagbo and three of his former ministers were sentenced to 20 years in prison on charges they broke into the Abidjan branch of the Central Bank of West African States to get cash amid the post-election crisis in January 2011.
It’s unlikely that Ivorian authorities will jail the ex-president, says Ousmane Zina, a political scientist at the University of Bouake. However, Ouattara is likely to attach conditions to Gbagbo’s return in an effort to avoid reigniting tensions of the past, he added.
“Before granting a pardon or amnesty, he will want to obtain a guarantee that the country will remain peaceful,” Zina said.
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By TOUSSAINT N'GOTTA and YESICA FISCH Associated Press
Associated Press journalists Bishr El Touni, Mark Carlson and Lorne Cook in Brussels and Krista Larson in Dakar, Senegal contributed.
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