Ivory Coast President Alassane Ouattara has pardoned his predecessor and longtime rival, Laurent Gbagbo, as part of a reconciliation drive ahead of elections due in 2025.
Ouattara made the announcement in a televised address on Saturday, a day before Ivory Coast’s independence celebrations.
“In the interests of strengthening social cohesion, I have signed a decree granting a presidential pardon,” he said in his speech.
The president said he has also asked that Gbagbo’s bank accounts be unfrozen and that his lifetime annuity be paid.
Gbagbo, president from 2000 to 2011, returned to Ivory Coast last year after being acquitted in 2019 by the International Criminal Court (ICC) in the Hague on war crime charges for his role in a civil war sparked by his refusal to concede defeat after the 2010 election.
Credit: Aljazeera.com
