By Justice Hub
Prosecutors at the International Criminal Court have said they want to put former Ivorian president Laurent Gbagbo and another suspect, Charles Blé Goudé, on trial together. Blé Goudé was alleged to have been one of the president’s key supporters during the violence that erupted after disputed elections in Ivory Coast. The two, who are currently in detention in The Hague, face charges of crimes against humanity, including murder, deportation and persecution.
There is currently already one joint trial underway in The Hague. Kenyan Deputy President William Ruto and journalist Joshua arap Sang are accused of committing crimes against humanity during Kenya’s post-election violence in 2007 and 2008 that left over 1200 people dead. Their trial opened in September 2013.
One other joint trial has been completed. It involved Germain Katanga, the commander of a rebel movement in the Democratic Republic of Congo and Mathieu Ngudjolo Chui , another rebel leader in the DRC. The two were charged with crimes against humanity and war crimes. The cases were separated in 2012, and in 2014, Katanga was found guilty of war crimes, including murder, attacking a civilian population, destruction of property and pillaging. He was acquitted of the other charges and sentenced to 12 years’ imprisonment. Chui was acquitted on all the charges and released in 2012. The Office of the Prosecutor has appealed the verdict.
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