Alassane Ouattara, the president of the Ivory Coast, has released Laurent Gbagbo from his 20-year prison sentence for inciting riots.
Ouattara said that the action was taken to strengthen societal solidarity in a statement made on Saturday to commemorate the 62nd anniversary of the country’s independence.
Gbagbo’s bank accounts were also requested to be unfrozen and his life annuity to be paid by Ouattara.
Gbagbo was elected president of the Ivory Coast in 2000, but he was imprisoned in 2011 for refusing to accept his electoral defeat.
A civil war broke out between Gbagbo’s army and Ouattara’s allies, which claimed the lives of about 3,000 people.
The International Criminal Court (ICC) cleared Gbagbo on charges related to suspected war crimes during the conflict.
However, he received a 20-year prison sentence in 2018 for the post-election theft of money from the Abidjan central bank. He’s always refuted the allegations.
Additionally, Ouattara consented to the release of two of Gbagbo’s closest friends who had been imprisoned for their part in the post-election rioting.
Gbagbo returned to the Ivory Coast from exile in 2021 after being cleared by the ICC, where he has maintained a quiet profile ever since.
Critics claimed that Ouattara’s decision to run for a third term in the 2020 election was unconstitutional.
He has claimed that he won’t leave politics until Henri Konan Bédié and Gbagbo also decide to do the same.
