IVORY COAST: TRIAL BEGINS OF EIGHT PARAMILITARY GENDARMES ACCUSED OF KILLING 57 MEN WHOSE BODIES WERE FOUND DUMPED IN A MASS GRAVE OUTSIDE ABIDJAN

Record ID: 183503

  • Title: IVORY COAST: TRIAL BEGINS OF EIGHT PARAMILITARY GENDARMES ACCUSED OF KILLING 57 MEN WHOSE BODIES WERE FOUND DUMPED IN A MASS GRAVE OUTSIDE ABIDJAN
  • Date: 24th July 2001
  • Summary: ABIDJAN, IVORY COAST (JULY 24, 2001) (REUTERS ACCESS ALL) 1. SLV: OUTSIDE OF THE TRIAL HALL AT CAMP AGBAN, IN THE IVORY COAST CAPITAL ABIDJAN WHERE THE TRIAL IS TAKING PLACE 0.04 2. SV'S: TWO GENDARMES GUARDING THE HALL (2 SHOTS) 0.12 3. MV: A LAWYER WALKS INTO THE HALL SURROUNDED BY SOLDIERS 0.21 4. SLV: GENDARMES WALKING IN THE HALL 0.26 5. SV'S: LAWYERS, BOTH MILITARY AND CIVILIAN TALKING TO ONE ANOTHER BEFORE THE TRIAL BEGINS 0.33 6. SV: THE EIGHT GENDARMES WALK TOWARDS THE TRIAL CHAMBER 0.44 7. WS: THE INSIDE OF THE HALL 0.49 8. MV/SCU: JUDGE DELI SEPLEU IN RED ROBE (2 SHOTS) 1.01 9. WS/SV: SHOTS OF THE ACCUSED GENDARMES STANDING BEFORE THE COURT AS THEY ANNOUNCE THEIR NAMES (2 SHOTS) 1.12 10. SCU: SOUNDBITE (French) JUDGE DELI SEPLEU: "You are accused of killing and premeditated murder," 1.30 ABIDJAN, IVORY COAST (FILE) (REUTERS ACCESS ALL) 11. WS/MV: FILE FOOTAGE OF THE MASS GRAVE FOUND IN THE ABIDJAN SUBURB OF YOPOUGON (2 SHOTS) 1.41 12. SV/SCU: SECURITY FORCES GUARDING THE SITE (2 SHOTS) 1.49 ABIDJAN, IVORY COAST (JULY 24, 2001) (REUTERS ACCESS ALL) 13. CU: STILL PHOTO OF ONE OF THE VICTIMS 1.51 14. SCU: SOUNDBITE (French) MATEGNE SOUMAHORO, BEATEN BY SECURITY FORCES DURING THE VIOLENCE WHO HAS COME TO WATCH THE TRIAL: "The process? Well I think that these gendarmes aren't in any danger"., 2.04 15. SV'S: THE EIGHT GENDARMES, IN HIGH SPIRITS, COME OUT AND ARE GREETED BY FELLOW SOLDIERS (2 SHOTS) 2.12 16. WS: THE PUBLIC AND SOLDIERS WALK OUT OF THE TRIAL CHAMBER 2.16 Initials Script is copyright Reuters Limited. All rights reserved
  • Embargoed: 8th August 2001 13:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: ABIDJAN, IVORY COAST
  • Country: Ivory Coast
  • Reuters ID: LVAC6GK1448BLV7M372L9BVDODRU
  • Story Text: Eight paramilitary gendarmes went on trial in the Ivory
    Coast on Tuesday accused of murder after 57 men were killed
    and their bodies dumped in a mass grave outside the Ivorian
    capital Abidjan.


    Dressed in combat fatigues, the eight stood to hear the
    accusation at a gendarmerie camp near the forest where 57
    bodies were found in October as political and ethnic
    bloodletting raged in the once-stable West African state.

    "You are accused of killing and premeditated murder," said
    judge Deli Sepleu, the civilian chairman of the five-member
    panel.

    All eight have denied any role in executing the men most of
    whom were shot dead with military-issue weapons. Security
    forces on Tuesday(July 24) dispersed dozens of relatives of
    victims outside the camp, where they had gathered to call for
    more gendarmes to be put on trial than the major and seven
    lower ranks who stand accused.

    Military sources say a tract circulating among gendarmes warns
    a guilty verdict would spell the end for President Laurent
    Gbagbo, who won the poll but needed street protests to force
    out army ruler Robert Guei as he tried to extend his 10-month
    rule.

    The gendarmes played a vital role in backing Gbagbo and
    suppressing riots following his victory as supporters of
    excluded former Prime Minister Alassane Ouattara demanded a
    fresh election to allow him to take part too.

    At least 170 died in violence surrounding the election.

    Most of the 57 found dumped in the forest are thought to be
    from Ouattara's Muslim north. Of the 17 identified, 15 have
    northern origins. The other two are from nearby regions of
    neighbouring Guinea and Burkina Faso.

    Survivors spoke of gendarmes rounding up young northerners and
    one has launched a legal process in Belgium accusing Gbagbo,
    Guei and senior ministers of crimes against humanity.

    Of the witnesses who were in court, many said they did not
    plan to return after the judge adjourned the case for a week
    so that the identity of witnesses could be revealed to the
    defence, in line with legal procedure.

    The trial is being closely followed by human rights groups and
    the European Union, which holds the key to aid that the
    world's biggest cocoa producer needs badly after years of
    economic crisis even before Guei's 1999 coup.


  • Copyright Holder: REUTERS
  • Copyright Notice: (c) Copyright Thomson Reuters 2015. Open For Restrictions - http://about.reuters.com/fulllegal.asp
  • Usage Terms/Restrictions: None
Register