The International Criminal Court has dashed Laurent Gbagbo’s hopes of a swift release following the acquittal of the Ivory Coast’s former president on charges of crimes against humanity.
Trial judges had earlier ordered Gbagbo and his right-hand man Charles Ble Goude to be immediately freed after clearing them of any role in a wave of post-electoral violence in 2010-2011 that killed 3,000 people.
Celebrations erupted outside the court and Gbagbo’s daughter Marie Laurence said an emotional homecoming to the Ivory Coast was planned, after seven years in detention.
But prosecutors filed a last-ditch challenge late on Wednesday to keep the pair behind bars while the International Criminal Court (ICC) looks at an overall appeal against Tuesday’s acquittal. “Pending the decision of the appeals chamber on this prosecutor’s request … Mr Gbagbo and Mr Ble Goude shall remain in ICC custody,” an ICC spokesman said.
The Ivorian pair can themselves appeal by a deadline of 11am GMT on Thursday.
Prosecutors say there is a risk that, if released now, Gbagbo and Ble Goude will refuse to return to face justice if the court later decides to overturn their acquittal.
The court’s decision to clear the two men had come as a major blow to ICC prosecutor Fatou Bensouda because it was the latest in a series of failed cases against former African leaders.