Prosecutor v Mr. Gbagbo and Mr. Blé Goudé - ICC Appeals Chamber confirms Trial Chamber I’s acquittal decision
On 31 March 2021, the Appeals Chamber (AC) of the International Criminal Court (ICC) confirmed by majority Trial Chamber I’s decision of 15 January 2019 which acquitted Mr. Gbagbo and Mr. Blé Goudé of all charges of crimes against humanity allegedly committed in Côte d’Ivoire in 2010 and 2011.
The acquittal of Mr Gbagbo and Mr Blé Goudé is now final. The Appeals Chamber ordered the removal of all conditions to the release of Mr Gbagbo and Blé Goudé and instructed the Registrar to make arrangements for their transfer to a safe state.
"This acquittal should not obscure the thousands of victims of the Ivorian crisis who need justice and reparations" declared Ms. Fanta Doumbia, Coordinator of the Ivorian national Coalition for the ICC.
Read the summary of the judgment delivered in Court
Watch the delivery of the summary of the judgement
On 15 January 2019, Trial Chamber I acquitted Mr Laurent Gbagbo and Mr Charles Blé Goudé from all charges of crimes against humanity by majority, Judge Carbuccia dissenting, ordering the conditional release of the defendants. The full written reasons for the decision were filed on 16 July 2019. The ICC Prosecutor appealed the decision.
In its reasoning, the AC rejected the Prosecutor’s argument that Trial Chamber I violated the requirements imposed by Art 74.5 of the Rome Statute in relation to final judgements by issuing an oral judgment without the supporting written reasoning. While recognizing that ideally the written reasoning would be provided in the same context of the oral judgement, the AC ascertained that its delayed issuance did not necessarily invalidate the trial due to the fact that there are no time limits and that a summary containing the main reasoning of the decision was read in Court.
The Appeals Chamber further rejected the Prosecutor’s argument that Trial Chamber I failed to identify a clear standard of proof and assessment of the evidence. The AC considered the Prosecutor’s arguments in relation to the unclear and excessively rigid standard applied and the incorrect assessment and corroboration of evidence, and analyzed closely the concurring opinions of Judge Henderson and Judge Tarfusser. The Appeals Chamber rejected the arguments recalling that the majority of judges found the evidence presented by the Prosecutor to be “exceptionally weak”.
The Appeals Chamber's decided on the appel by majority, Judge Ibáñez and Judge Bossa dissenting. In their dissenting opinions, Judge Ibáñez and Judge Bossa explain in detail that they would have granted the Prosecutor's appeal based on the fact that the decision of Trial Chamber I was materially vitiated by serious errors. Judge Eboe-Osuji, Judge Morrison and Judge Hofmański also appended separate concurring opinions to the judgement.
"The ICC would benefit from not giving false hope to victims of serious crimes" affirmed Mr. Ali Ouattara, President of the Ivorian national Coalition for the ICC. "It must give confidence to victims through credible investigations and decisions that take their interests into account. In addition, it must also extend its investigations to all parties involved in the Ivorian conflict so that today's impunity does not lay the ground for the crime of tomorrow."
"We will take the time necessary to review & carefully analyse the judgement & its dissenting & separate opinions in detail so that we fully appreciate its rationale & import for our work" affirmed the ICC Prosecutor Fatou Bensouda in commentig the decision. "I seize the occasion to reaffirm that our independent & objective investigations in Côte d’Ivoire continue into alleged crimes under the Court’s jurisdiction.”
Reactions from Civil Society
Check CICC members reactions to Mr Gbagbo’s and Mr Blé Goudé’s 2019 acquittal decision
Procedural background
Before ratifying the Rome Statute on 15 February 2013, Côte d’Ivoire had accepted the jurisdiction of the ICC on 18 April 2003 in accordance with Article 12.3 of the Statute. Followinf the declaration, the Office of the Prosecutor conducted a preliminary examination and obtained the authorization to open an investigation in the Siatuation in Côte d’Ivoire on 3 October 2011.
On 23 November 2011, the ICC Pre-Trial Chamber issued a warrant of arrest under seal against Mr Gbagbo for crimes against humanity allegedly committed in Côte d’Ivoire in 2010 and 2011. The arrest warrant was unsealed only a few days later on 30 November 2011.
On 21 December 2011, Pre-Trial Chamber III issued an arrest warrant under seal against Mr Blé Goudé. The arrest warrant was unsealed on 30 September 2013.
On 30 November 2011, Mr Gbagbo was surrendered to the ICC by the Ivorian authorities. His initial appearance took place on 5 December 2011. Consequently, Mr Blé Goudé was surrendered to the ICC by the Ivorian authorities on 22 March 2014. The initial appearance of Mr Blé Goudé took place on 27 March 2014.
On 12 June 2014, Pre-Trial Chamber I confirmed by majority four charges of crimes against humanity against MrGbagbo. On 12 December 2014 Pre-Trial Chamber I confirmed four charges of crimes against humanity against Mr Blé Goudé.
The cases against against Mr Gbagbo and Mr Blé Goudé were joined on 11 March 2015 based on the determination that their alleged criminal conducts were closely linked.
The trial opened on 28 January 2016.
On 23 July and 3 August 2018, the defense teams of Mr Gbagbo and Mr blé Goudé filed a “No Case to Answer Motion”, about which the Prosecution, the Legal Representatives of Victims and the two Defence teams were allowed to present arguments.
On 15 January 2019, Trial Chamber I acquitted Mr Laurent Gbagbo and Mr Charles Blé Goudé from all charges of crimes against humanity by majority, Judge Herrera Carbuccia dissenting. After hearing the parties, Trial Chamber I ordered the conditional release of Mr Gbagbo and Mr Blé Goudé.
On 16 July 2019, Trial Chamber I filed the written reasons for the acquittal. On 16 September 2019, the Prosecutorfiled a notice of appeal.
Pre-Trial Chamber I granted 727 persons the status of victims in the proceedings against Mr Gbagbo and Mr Blé Goudé.
