Thousands of Ivory Coast prisoners get back their freedom

Ivory Coast's president Alassane Ouattara, speaks during an interview on October 22, 2015 in Abidjan ahead of presidential elections. He announced in his New Year’s address that he had reduced the sentences of 3,100 prisoners held over bloody post-election unrest.
PHOTO | ISSOUF SANOGO | AFP

By  AFP

What you need to know:

  • Around 3,000 people died in five months of violence in 2010-2011 in the West African nation.
  • The crisis erupted after Laurent Gbagbo refused to concede defeat, sparking months of violence that eventually drew in international troops.
  • Ouattara, a former economist, won a second five-year term by a landslide in October in the nation’s first peaceful vote in more than a decade.

ABIDJAN
Ivory Coast’s President Alassane Ouattara announced in his New Year’s address that he had reduced the sentences of 3,100 prisoners held over bloody post-election unrest.

Around 3,000 people died in five months of violence in 2010-2011 in the west African nation following elections that saw Ouattara unseat then president Laurent Gbagbo.

REFUSED TO CONCEDE DEFEAT
The crisis erupted after the strongman leader refused to concede defeat, sparking months of violence that eventually drew in international troops.

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“I have decided to use my right of clemency to grant full and partial sentence reductions,” Ouattara said.

“This decision will allow thousands of inmates to get their freedom back and for others to see their terms shortened,” he added. “It concerns a total of 3,100 people.”

He did not give a breakdown of how many prisoners would go free immediately and how many would remain behind bars.

Campaigners cautiously welcomed the announcement. “Ordinary prisoners will be pardoned but for political prisoners, that grace does not solve the problem,” said Seri Gouagnon, a Gbagbo supporter.

WON BY LAND SLIDE
“The most important thing is that he follows through on the announcement,” Desiree Douati, the head of a group that represents the families of those in prison in Ivory Coast, AFFDO-CI, told AFP.

Ouattara, a former economist, won a second five-year term by a landslide in October in the nation’s first peaceful vote in more than a decade.

He has been credited with reviving the economy of the world’s leading cocoa producer.

Gbagbo, who was defeated by pro-Ouattara forces backed by the UN and France, is awaiting trial before the International Criminal Court.

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