Six pro-Gbagbo leaders, who had gone into exile in Ghana, including Justin Kone Katinan, Damana Pikass and Jeannette Koudou, the younger sister of the former Ivorian president, are expected at Abidjan airport on Friday.
The information was announced on Tuesday in a statement by Assoa Adou, the secretary general of a wing of the Ivorian Popular Front (FPI, opposition), the party founded by former President Laurent Gbagbo.
These six Gbagbo sympathizers are Justin Katinan Kone, Adia Damana Pikass, Tahi Zue Etienne, Jeannette Koudou, Vehi Tokpa and Innocent Kouabena Abouo. The return is organized by the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (HCR) as part of the tripartite agreement between the Ivorian government, the Ghanaian government and the UNHCR.
“Given the closure of land borders, their return will be by Emirate flight Number EK 787, which will land at the Felix Houphouet Boigny Airport on Friday April 30 at 13:50 (GMT, local time),” the statement said.
“The FPI Party leadership invites the militants to reserve a warm and militant welcome to the comrades who return to the country after 10 years of exile, during which they led, in synergy with the Party, the difficult fight for the release of Laurent Gbagbo,” continues the text.
According to the party, these leaders “are coming to participate in the organization of his (Gbagbo) return.” Mr. Laurent Gbagbo, who has been acquitted by the International Criminal Court (ICC), is als expected in Cote d’Ivoire.
The final acquittal of Gbagbo and his co-accused, Charles Ble Goude, was pronounced by the ICC Appeals Chamber on March 31, 2021. Their imminent return to the country will be an important step towards reconciliation and peace in Cote d’Ivoire.
AP/ls/fss/abj/APA