A court in Ivory Coast on Tuesday sentenced former first lady Simone Gbagbo to a 20-year prison term on charges of “undermining state security” during post-election violence in 2010-2011 that left nearly 3,000 dead.
The wife of former Ivorian president Laurent Gbagbo was also accused of “disturbing public order” and “organising armed gangs” after her husband and his supporters rejected results of the December 2010 presidential elections showing rival Alassane Ouattara had won the contest.
The court “unanimously” condemned her to 20 years in jail, court president Tahirou Dembele said in a statement Tuesday. Gbagbo’s face hardened as the verdict was read. She was “a little affected” by the sentence, her lawyer Me Rodrigue Dadje told newsmen.
“I am ashamed of Ivorian justice,” he said, adding that they would appeal the sentence. “We showed that impunity in Ivory Coast must not continue,” said state prosecutor Soungalo Coulibaly.
Laurent Gbagbo’s son Michel, a French-born dual national from a previous marriage, was also sentenced to five years in prison for his role in the violence.
Once referered to by admirers and opponents alike as Ivory Coast’s “Iron Lady,” Simone Gbagbo has been on trial since January with 82 co-defendants accused of varying degrees of involvement in the deadly unrest. A key issue in her trial was whether she played a part in directing the death squads that ran amok in the weeks after the disputed vote. Prosecutors had asked for a lighter 10-year jail term for the 65-year-old Gbagbo.
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