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Cotê d'Ivoire's
former first lady, Simone Gbagbo, was a powerful politician in her own right (Image source: BBC)
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A criminal court in Cotê d'Ivoire sentenced former
first lady Simone Gbagbo to 20 years in prison for her role in a five-month
post-election crisis that followed a disputed vote in 2010.
The court in the commercial capital, Abidjan,
convicted Gbagbo of creating armed gangs, taking part in an insurrection and
public disorder, Gbagbo’s attorney Rodrigue Dadje said by phone on Tuesday. The
prosecution had sought a 10-year sentence.
Bloomberg reports:
Gbagbo, 65, and more than 80 other people went on
trial in December on charges related to the post-election violence that left
more than 3,000 people dead in the world’s biggest cocoa- producing nation.
Laurent Gbagbo, her husband, refused to step down after he lost to Alassane
Ouattara.
The post-election crisis ended with the capture of
Laurent Gbagbo and his wife in the basement of the presidential residence in
April 2011 after French and United Nations soldiers and forces loyal to
Ouattara laid siege to their home. Ouattara assumed office a month later and
will seek re-election in the next vote scheduled for October.
Simone Gbagbo, an evangelical Christian, was a
co-founder of the Ivorian Popular Front, the ex-ruling party, and served as
deputy speaker of parliament when her husband was president.
On Tuesday, the court also withdrew her right to vote
or run for public office for 10 years, Dadje said. Michel Gbagbo, the son of
the former president was sentenced to 5 years in prison, he said. Both have
five days to appeal, Dadje added.
Laurent
Gbagbo is currently in detention in the Netherlands awaiting trial by the
International Criminal Court on charges of crimes against humanity. Ivory Coast
refused to hand over Simone Gbagbo to the ICC, saying the national courts were
able to hear her case.
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