Cote d’Ivoire’s ex-first lady admits waging ‘oral’ battles

This file photo taken on May 9, 2016 shows Ivory Coast's former first lady Simone Gbagbo attending the opening hearing of her trial on charges of crimes against humanity for her alleged role in the 2010 electoral violence, at the courthouse of Abidjan. PHOTO | AFP

What you need to know:

  • Gbagbo denied any contact with the militia that hunted down supporters of her husband Laurent Gbagbo’s rival.

  • Decision by ex-president Gbagbo not to recognise Ouattara’s victory in the November 2010 election triggered a deadly crisis.
  • Simone Gbagbo, who turned 67 on Monday, was greeted at the courthouse by a dozen supporters chanting: “Happy birthday”.

ABIDJAN, Tuesday

Cote d’Ivoire’s former first lady Simone Gbagbo on Tuesday told the court trying her for crimes against humanity over deadly election violence in 2010-2011 the only battles she ever fought were “oral”.

At the resumption of her trial in Abidjan after a week’s hiatus, Gbagbo denied any contact with the militia that hunted down supporters of her husband Laurent Gbagbo’s rival, current President Alassane Ouattara.

“I was not in contact with any death squads. I don’t like weapons,” said the woman nicknamed Ivory Coast’s “Iron Lady,” insisting “the fights I conducted were oral.”

The decision by ex-president Gbagbo not to recognise Ouattara’s victory in the November 2010 election triggered a crisis which cost the lives of more than 3,000 people within five months.

The violence ended only after troops stormed the bunker where the Gbagbo couple had holed up.

Simone Gbagbo, who turned 67 on Monday, was greeted at the courthouse by a dozen supporters chanting: “Happy birthday”.

Her husband is currently on trial for war crimes at the International Criminal Court in the Hague.

The former first lady rejected allegations she was involved in a decision to shell a pro-Ouattara Abidjan neighbourhood and helping plan attacks by Gbagbo supporters on his detractors.

She denied knowledge of an official document that a lawyer for civil plaintiffs said detailed a “strategy for exterminating a group of individuals”.

Her trial, which began on May 31, is her second in Ivory Coast where she is already serving a 20-year sentence for “harming state security”. ()