FRANCE: Laurent Gbagbo's key adviser accuses French forces of 'kidnapping" Laurent Gbagbo from his Presidential Palace in Ivory Coast

Record ID: 736776

  • Title: FRANCE: Laurent Gbagbo's key adviser accuses French forces of 'kidnapping" Laurent Gbagbo from his Presidential Palace in Ivory Coast
  • Date: 13th April 2011
  • Summary: PARIS, FRANCE (APRIL 12, 2011) (REUTERS) FRENCH LAWYER JACQUES VERGES ARRIVING AT NEWS CONFERENCE FOLLOWED BY LAURENT GBAGBO'S KEY ADVISER IN FRANCE TOUSSAINT ALAIN NEWS CONFERENCE TAKING PLACE/ ALAIN AND VERGES SITTING DOWN (SOUNDBITE) (French) LAURENT GBAGBO'S KEY ADVISER IN PARIS, TOUSSAINT ALAIN, SAYING "The military intervention by France is a serious violation to the sovereignty of our country. For us this represents an unbearable coup d'état." NEWS CONFERENCE TAKING PLACE (SOUNDBITE) (French) LAURENT GBAGBO'S KEY ADVISER IN PARIS, TOUSSAINT ALAIN, SAYING: ALAIN: "France cannot refuse to liberate citizens that have not committed any crimes. President Gbagbo is Ivory Coast's acting president, he was kidnapped and we are asking for the kidnappers to release him." JOURNALIST: "But there was a military intervention." ALAIN: "Precisely, it is because the military intervention is illegal, unfair and unfounded that we are asking for the immediate release of the President of the Republic." JOURNALISTS (SOUNDBITE) (French) LAURENT GBAGBO'S KEY ADVISER IN PARIS, TOUSSAINT ALAIN, SAYING "The legal and legitimate government of Ivory Coast calls for the immediate halt to the witch hunt launched by Mr Alassane Ouattara's militia who are imposing terror everywhere in the country and mainly in Abidjan, looting the homes of President Gbagbo's relatives, stealing belongings, murdering peaceful citizens who have the misfortune to belong to other ethnicities than that of Mr Alassane Ouattara." JOURNALISTS ALAIN AND VERGES LISTENING TO JOURNALIST'S QUESTION (SOUNDBITE) (French) LAWYER JACQUES VERGES SAYING "The French people cannot accept that all this be done in its name, the shame is for us, the pain is for the people of Ivory Coast." JOURNALISTS AT NEWS CONFERENCE
  • Embargoed: 28th April 2011 13:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: France, France
  • Country: France
  • Topics: International Relations
  • Reuters ID: LVAC5HKDIF0YRV0OP5BG4922NA3C
  • Story Text: Gbagbo's key adviser in France accused on Tuesday (April 12) French forces of "kidnapping" Laurent Gbagbo from his Presidential Palace.
    Gbagbo, who had refused to step down after 10 years in power, was arrested on Monday (April 11) after French forces in the former colony closed in on the bunker where he had been holed up for the past week, and placed under the control of Ouattara's forces.
    "The military intervention by France is a serious violation to the sovereignty of our country. For us this represents an unbearable coup d'état," said Toussaint Alain, Laurent Gbagbo's adviser in France.
    Ivory Coast's internationally recognised president Alassane Ouattara called for peace after his rival was arrested with the help of French forces, but he faces a huge task reuniting a country shattered by civil war.
    Both France and Ouattara's forces have denied allegations that French soldiers penetrated the Presidential Palace to arrest Laurent Gbagbo.
    Alain called for the immediate release of Gbagbo and his family:
    "France cannot refuse to liberate citizens that have not committed any crimes. President Gbagbo is Ivory Coast's acting president, he was kidnapped and we are asking for the kidnappers to release him," Alain said.
    Ouattara, who won a November presidential election according to U.N.-certified results, can finally begin asserting his authority over the West African country after Laurent Gbagbo was captured on Monday -- ending more than four months of stand-off that descended into all-out conflict.
    That leaves Ouattara as the sole leader in charge of the country, although many analysts say it may not be enough to end the fighting that has bloodied the world's top cocoa grower over the past few weeks.
    Ethnic violence has festered during Ouattara's lengthy tug-of-war with Gbagbo, particularly in the west of the country, with hundreds of people killed as both sides to the conflict committed atrocities against civilians, aid groups say.
    Alain accused Ouattara's forces of targetting pro-Gababo citizens.
    "The legal and legitimate government of Ivory Coast calls for the immediate halt to the witch hunt launched by Mr Alassane Ouattara's militia who are imposing terror everywhere in the country and mainly in Abidjan, looting the homes of President Gbagbo's relations, stealing belongings, murdering peaceful citizens who have the misfortune to belong to other ethnies than of Mr Alassane Ouattara's," he said.
    Jacques Verges -- a French lawyer known for representing Nazi war criminal Klaus Barbie -- was present at the news conference and said France was being colonialist through its actions in Ivory Coast.
    "The French people cannot accept that all this be done in its name, the shame is for us, the pain is for the people of Ivory Coast," said Verges.
    Ouattara said Gbagbo, his wife and aides who have been detained will face justice. But he also promised a South African-styled Truth and Reconciliation commission to shed light on all crimes and human rights abuses.
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