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The International Criminal Court released former Ivorian President Laurent Gbagbo after his acquittal last January for crimes against humanity.
Supporters sang and waved flags in The Hague after the judges had decided to release the 73-year-old, provided he remained in an unnamed country pending appeal by the prosecution.
Mr. Gbagbo, the first former head of state to have been tried before the ICC, and his aide, Charles Blé Goudé, were released on January 15 after a wave of violence after disputed elections in that country. West Africa in 2010.
More than 3,000 people died on both sides after Gbagbo refused to yield the defeat to his rival – and now president – Albadane Ouattara.
Gbagbo and Blé Goudé have been accused of playing a role in killings, rapes, persecutions and other inhumane acts committed during the post-election violence.
ICC Judge of Appeal Chile Eboe-Osuji said the court would release Gbagbo "to a state willing to accept him on his territory and willing to enforce the conditions" by the court.
The court later stated that Gbagbo and Ble Goude had been released from the ICC detention center in The Hague, where he had spent seven years in a "temporary" place while confirming his final destination, without giving further details. .
"We are very happy for Mr. Blé Goude and his family that he is finally released," Blé Goudé's lawyer Alexander Knoops told reporters. "He was under tremendous stress."
One country – whose name was expurgated in court documents – had "expressed its willingness to receive Mr. Gbagbo", provided that he undertook to return to court if necessary.
Prosecutors had feared that if Gbagbo were released, he would not return to court for a new trial if the January acquittal was set aside on appeal.
He also had to hand over his travel documents, make a weekly report, avoid contacting witnesses in Ivory Coast and refrain from making public statements about the case, said court documents .
The lawyers have previously discussed the agreement reached with warlord Jean-Pierre Bemba, former head of the Democratic Republic of Congo, who went to Belgium after being cleared by the ICC last year.
Although Cote d 'Ivoire is a member state of the ICC, the court might not want to send Gbagbo to his country, knowing that she had refused to surrender his wife Simone, despite a warrant to arrest her. judgment issued by the ICC.
Dozens of supporters of Gbagbo sang songs, waving Ivorian flags and chanting slogans like "Gbagbo is free!" And "Respect the power of Gbagbo!" They were followed by about twenty Dutch policemen.
ICC Chief Public Prosecutor Fatou Bensouda said she was expecting to "properly consider" the January acquittal decision before deciding on the opportunity to challenge her.
Gbagbo's acquittal was a blow to ICC prosecutors after similar failures with Bemba last year and Kenyan leader Uhuru Kenyatta in 2014.
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