I.Coast's Ouattara: Gbagbo will get "fair" ICC trial
Tue, 13 Sep 2011 19:53 GMT
PARIS, Sept 13 (Reuters) - Former Ivory Coast President Laurent Gbagbo will have a fair trial on charges of human rights abuses at the International Criminal Court (ICC), President Alassane Ouattara said on Tuesday.
Ouattara has already invited the ICC to try the most serious crimes committed during months of violence after a disputed November election, irrespective of whose side the suspects were on. The conflict killed 3,000 and displaced more than a million.
Critics complain that not one of Ouattara's men has been detained, despite evidence that they too committed abuses.
"He will be judged in Ivory Coast for economic crimes and he will also be judged by the ICC at our request so that the trial is fair," Ouattara said in an interview on French television station TF1.
Gbagbo and his wife Simone, detained since he was ousted from power in April, were charged by Ivory Coast's public prosecutor for the first time in August with "economic crimes, armed robbery, looting and embezzlement".
Ouattara's government is closing the net around members of the former regime, who are suspected of using violence against civilians seen as pro-Ouattara during the crisis, and of looting the Treasury to remain in power despite harsh Western sanctions.
"The law will be the same for everybody," Ouattara said. "Impunity will not be tolerated and those who should face the judge will do so. We will not make any exemptions," he said. (Reporting by John Irish; Editing by Louise Ireland)
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