IVORY COAST-COURT/SIMONE GBAGBO Hundreds demonstrate outside Abidjan court against Gbagbo

Record ID: 182939

  • Title: IVORY COAST-COURT/SIMONE GBAGBO Hundreds demonstrate outside Abidjan court against Gbagbo
  • Date: 23rd February 2015
  • Summary: ABIDJAN, IVORY COAST (FEBRUARY 23, 2015) (REUTERS) ***WARNING CONTAINS FLASH PHOTOGRAPHY*** VARIOUS OF EXTERIOR OF PALACE OF JUSTICE, WITH DEMONSTRATORS HOLDING SIGNS WITH PHOTOS OF VICTIMS AND SHOUTING "CRIMINAL, ASSASSIN" VARIOUS OF STREET SCENES, CARS PASSING WITH DEMONSTRATORS SEEN IN BACKGROUND VARIOUS OF SIGN SHOWING A VICTIM AND READING "THE VICTIMS ASSOCIATIONS OF IVORY COAST IN ACTION" (SOUNDBITE)(French) OUMOU KONE, MAID, SAYING: "They should not say that Madame Gbagbo didn't do these things and it's all a lie. I have proof. I have proof. After they killed my husband the way they killed him, I have proof. We shouldn't leave Madame Gbagbo like this, she should pay for what she did." SECURITY AROUND PALACE OF JUSTICE VARIOUS OF LAWYERS TALKING AMONGST THEMSELVES, LAWYER HOLDING FOLDERS FORMER FIRST LADY SIMONE GBAGBO ARRIVING AT COURT, SALUTING CROWDS POLICE PROVIDING SECURITY IN FRONT OF PALACE OF JUSTICE VARIOUS OF INTERIOR OF PALACE OF JUSTICE, GBAGBO SITTING, SMILING WITH HER LAWYERS MORE OF EXTERIORS OF PALACE OF JUSTICE, POLICE PROVIDING SECURITY, JOURNALISTS VICTIMS FROM TWO CAMPS ARGUING IN FRONT OF COURT, OUMOU KONE CRYING AND SAYING: "Oh God, because of Madame Gbagbo we are widows and our children are orphans." (SOUNDBITE)(French) MAN IN CROWD REPLYING: "Here in Ivory Coast, is it only Dioula that they killed? When they registered the ethnicities, was is just the Dioula? Are there no other ethnicities in Ivory Coast? When the French cannons were shooting, were they only trying to kill the Dioula? Let's not be kidding ourselves." PEOPLE IN FRONT OF PALACE OF JUSTICE (SOUNDBITE)(French) SHERIF AMARA, LOCAL TRADER, SAYING: "When you look at this court case, it brings even further away the reconciliation between Ivorians. We don't have reconciliation yet, because you look at this court case and it's like reconciliation doesn't exist." VARIOUS OF STREET SCENES, CARS GOING PAST, DEMONSTRATORS WITH SIGNS (SOUNDBITE)(French) SERY IYO JEAN LOUIS CLERK D'HUSSIER, ABIDJAN RESIDENT, SAYING: "We should forget what these people have done, those who are in prison or who are here now. It's something that it's in the past and we should forgive. If we want to sweeten the Ivorians' hearts we should forget about this." VARIOUS OF STREET SCENES, CARS IN FRONT OF PALACE OF JUSTICE, DEMONSTRATORS WITH PANCARDS
  • Embargoed: 10th March 2015 12:00
  • Keywords:
  • Topics: General
  • Reuters ID: LVAD9A3K2TKLKRYE2SCXRPDXTHEB
  • Story Text: Ivorians protested against Simone Gbagbo, Ivory Coast's former first lady, on Monday (February 23) as she rejected accusations of rebellion and xenophobia, her first public statements in a trial over her role in a conflict that erupted after a contested 2010 election.
    Simone Gbagbo is wanted by the International Criminal Court for her role in the post-election violence, which killed about 3,000 people, but Ivory Coast has said she and dozens of fellow supporters can be tried at home.
    People with banners and shouting "criminal, assassin" and "Simone is a killer" protested against Gbagbo as she arrived at court smiling and waving to crowds.
    Oumou Kone, who works as a house maid in Abidjan says Gbagbo was guilty of her husband's killing.
    "They should not say that that Madame Gbagbo didn't do these things and it's all a lie. I have proof. I have proof. After they killed my husband the way they killed him, I have proof. We shouldn't leave Madame Gbagbo like this, she should pay for what she did," Kone said.
    "Oh God, because of Madame Gbagbo we are widows and our children are orphans," Kone said.
    A scuffle broke out between different camps of protesters, with some people dismissing Kone's accusations.
    "Here in Ivory Coast, is it only Dioula that they killed? When they registered the ethnicities, was is just the Dioula? Are there no other ethnicities in Ivory Coast? When the French cannons were shooting, were they only trying to kill the Dioula? Let's not be kidding ourselves," said a man in the crowd.
    Simone Gbagbo is being tried alongside over 80 other figures from her husband's administration.
    Her husband, Laurent, is being held at the ICC, where he faces accusations of crimes against humanity committed during the short war that erupted in 2011 and ended up with rival Alassane Ouattara becoming president.
    Violence erupted in the world's top cocoa grower when the Gbagbo and his supporters rejected U.N.-backed election results that showed that Ouattara had won. Northern rebels backed by U.N. and French troops defeated Gbagbo in a brief war.
    Simone Gbagbo accused foreign powers, led by former colonial master France, of bias saying they had sided with Ouattara during, not after, the election.
    The country has gone through a process of reconcilliation, but critics say this trial will work against peace.
    "When you look at this court case, it brings even further away the reconciliation between Ivorians. We don't have reconciliation yet, because you look at this court case and it's like reconciliation doesn't exist," said Sherif Amara, a local trader.
    Others said Ivorians need to forget and move on.
    "We should forget what these people have done, those who are in prison or who are here now. It's something that it's in the past and we should forgive. If we want to sweeten the Ivorians' hearts we should forget about this," said Sery Iyo Jean Louis Clerk D'hussier, from Abidjan.
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