Ivory Coast's Laurent Gbagbo 'on plane to ICC'

BBC News, 29 November 2011

Rebuilding Ivory Coast 

• Flash mob photos
• Crown jewels looted
• 'War crimes' and politics
• Huge rebuilding task

Laurent Gbagbo has been detained since his arrest in
 April after he refused to stand down as president

Former Ivory Coast president Laurent Gbagbo is on his way to the International Criminal Court (ICC) at The Hague after being issued with an arrest warrant, reports say.

"Mr Gbagbo is on the plane, heading to the ICC," his lawyer Lucie Bourthoumieux told Reuters news agency.

The ICC has been investigating alleged war crimes committed in unrest after last year's disputed elections.

Mr Gbagbo had been under house arrest since April when he was ousted.

Forces loyal to him and those of his rival, President Alassane Ouattara, stand accused of killings, rapes and other alleged abuses in the conflict.

Mr Gbagbo, who was in power for 10 years, was being held in the northern town of Korhogo.

He left the town shortly after 18:00, Abidjan prosecutor Simplice Kouadio Koffi told AFP news agency.

The transfer comes just two weeks before legislative elections are due in the Ivory Coast.

'Victor's justice'

ICC chief prosecutor Luis Moreno Ocampo visited the country in mid-October to investigate the post-election violence. 

A convoy of vehicles said to be taking
Laurent Gbagbo to Korhogo airport

He said his investigation would be impartial, and that he would focus on up to six people who he said were most to blame for the violence.

Human rights groups welcomed the arrest warrant, but also cautioned against "victor's justice".

"While the Gbagbo camp fuelled the violence, forces on both sides have been repeatedly implicated in grave crimes," said Elise Keppler of Human Rights Watch.

"Victims of abuse meted out by forces loyal to President Ouattara [also] deserve to see justice done," she said.

In a statement to Reuters, an adviser to Mr Gbagbo, Toussaint Alain, branded the former president's transfer "victor's justice".

Although the Ivory Coast is not one of the member countries covered by the ICC, it has accepted its jurisdiction.

Mr Gbagbo is also being investigated by Ivorian justice officials for "economic crimes". He has been charged with looting, armed robbery and embezzlement.