Côte d’Ivoir: ‘street general’ Blé Goudé, sentenced in absentia

Former Ivorian political leader Charles Blé Goudé has been sentenced in absentia to 20 years in prison by an Ivorian court over murder, rape and torture charges, local media reported.

The court has issued an arrest warrant for him.

Blé Goudé was an aide to former Ivorian President Laurent Gbagbo, who was acquitted by the Hague Criminal court over post-electoral violence.

About 3,000 people died in the turmoil that swept Abidjan — once one of Africa’s most cosmopolitan cities — in the aftermath of the November 2010 presidential polls when Gbagbo refused to accept defeat to bitter rival Alassane Ouattara, who remains in power.

The former aide to Gbagbo, who has remained in the Netherlands following his ICC trial pending a possible appeal by the prosecution, said he was “surprised by the verdict”, adding that he had been sentenced to 20 years in prison, 10 years deprivation of his civil rights, and a fine of 200 million CFA francs ($340,000) to be paid to the victims.

Gbagbo and Blé Goudé were tried over responsibility for murder, attempted murder, rape, persecution and “other inhumane acts” during five months of violence. Both pleaded not guilty.

The court conviction comes a week after an arrest warrant was issued for former rebel leader and would-be Ivory Coast presidential candidate Guillaume Soro, who aborted his planned return to the country at the last minute.

Blé Goudé had charisma, style and could evoke emotion like a preacher in front of his congregation. A fluent English speaker, he went on to study at Manchester University in the UK before returning to Côte d’Ivoire when fighting broke out in 2002 after a failed coup.

He was head of the Pan-African Congress of the Young Patriots (COJEP), a youth movement that he allegedly turned into a militia group allied with then-President Laurent Gbagbo.