Ivory Coast: 26 protesters sentenced to three years in prison for “disturbing public order”
According to the prosecutor, approximately 700 people have been arrested for defying the ban on protests, particularly in an attempt to challenge President Alassane Ouattara’s bid for a fourth term. Another 105 offenders will be tried in Abidjan next week.
Twenty-six people were sentenced on Thursday, October 16, to thirty-six months in prison in Ivory Coast , notably for “disturbing public order,” accused of having participated in banned demonstrations, AFP learned on Friday from two lawyers, one of whom is a member of the main opposition party.
The political climate is tense in the country, eight days before the presidential election : the candidacies of former head of state Laurent Gbagbo and Tidjane Thiam, leaders of the two main opposition parties, have been rejected by the Constitutional Council and any demonstration challenging the decisions of this body is prohibited.
“Wrong place at the wrong time”
However, protesters defied the ban in Abidjan and in some towns in the interior of the country, notably to protest President Alassane Ouattara’s bid for a fourth term. According to prosecutor Oumar Braman Koné, around 700 people were arrested.
On Thursday, 32 people were tried in Abidjan and Dabou, 50 km west of the economic capital, according to one of their lawyers, Roselyne Serikpa, and a lawyer for the Democratic Party of Côte d’Ivoire (PDCI, the main opposition force), Jean-Chrysostome Blessy. They are accused of participating in banned marches on Saturday.
Among them, 26 people were sentenced to three years in prison, two others to the same sentence but suspended and four were acquitted, they said, notably for “disturbing public order,” said Mr. Serikpa.
“For the most part, they were in the wrong place at the wrong time. They were on their way to work, one was jogging, one was going to mass,” Serikpa said. Next week, 105 other people are due to be tried in Abidjan, she said.
“Acts of terrorism”
Prosecutor Koné stated on Thursday that the use of mobile phones of some of those arrested had revealed “serious statements” calling for the ransacking of businesses, police stations and even prefectures, which he considered to be “acts of terrorism”.
During the protests, police reported that a man was shot dead by “unidentified individuals” in Bonoua (south), while the opposition put the death toll at two to three in the country. Amnesty International called on the authorities to stop “repressing” the protests.
In a statement on Friday, Justice Minister Sansan Kambilé responded that the exercise of the right to protest may “be subject to restrictions […] in the interest of national security, public safety, and public order,” among other things. The minister added that the demonstrations that have taken place since Saturday “are subversive in nature” and “marked by violence incompatible with the requirements of the law.”
Four opposition candidates are qualified to challenge Alassane Ouattara, in power since 2011: former Trade Minister Jean-Louis Billon, a PDCI dissident; two former comrades of Laurent Gbagbo who have broken with him, his ex-wife Simone Ehivet Gbagbo and former minister Ahoua Don Mello; and finally Henriette Lagou, who was already a candidate in 2015.
