Ivory Coast “has not received any request whatsoever” regarding former President Laurent Gbagbo’s alleged request to return to the country, government spokesman Sidi Tiémoko Touré has said.
Toure was speaking after Wednesday’s cabinet meeting in Abidjan.
“Mr. Gbagbo’s case is still open and therefore, the government cannot pronounce on legal matters. So we don’t have a position on that…. We have not received any request whatsoever. In any case, I am not informed about it,” Touré said.
It was in response to a question by a journalist about the Ivorian government’s position on a supposed request by Mr. Gbagbo for a return to Cote d’Ivoire.
According to media reports, Gbagbo, whose parole conditions were eased in late May, has applied to the International Criminal Court (ICC) Registry for his return to Cote d’Ivoire.
According to the same sources, Mr. Gbagbo’s request has reportedly been transmitted to the Ivorian authorities, whose response was being awaited.
The former Ivorian president, who has been on parole for several months in Belgium, had some restrictions placed on his freedom lifted by the ICC at the end of May.
These measures thus eased the conditions restricting his freedom of movement.
Acquitted by the ICC in January 2019, Mr. Gbagbo was charged with four counts of crimes against humanity thought to have been committed during Cote d’Ivoire’s post electoral violence in 2010-2011 that left at least 3,000 people dead.
LB/ls/lb/as/APA