After 10 years of absence, Laurent Gbagbo, the former Ivorian president, effectively set foot on Abidjan soil on Thursday, June 17 from Brussels, the Belgian capital where he had been living since his acquittal by the International Criminal Court (ICC).
Thursday June 17th. It sounds 4:19 pm local time when the regular Brussels Airlines flight from the Belgian capital lands on the tarmac at Félix Houphouët-Boigny airport in Abidjan. On board, Laurent Gbagbo, the former Ivorian president accompanied by Nady Bamba, his second wife, and some members of his college of lawyers, notably Me Altit (main counsel), Me Jennifer Nouarie and Me Habiba Touré. When he got off the plane, despite the security arrangements put in place, he was immediately grabbed by the horde of journalists who made the trip and some of his supporters. Then, against all odds, the ex-president, whom some VIP guests were waiting for at the presidential pavilion, boarded an armored vehicle ready to leave the airport. This disorganizes the entire security plan put in place.
Gbagbo refuses the presidential flag offered by Ouattara
The day of June 17, 2021 was particularly tense. Laurent Gbagbo’s supporters have certainly come out en masse to give him a triumphant welcome, but it has sometimes been done in pain. Some were either molested by the security forces, others attacked by young people said to be close to the RHDP, the ruling party. “We were astonished by the unusual mobilization of law enforcement. We had thought of a framework, but we are surprised afterwards. The populations were gassed. There are already 40 arrests when in a statement the government said it had not banned any gatherings. We then ask him to stop this repression, ”lamented Franck Anderson Kouassi, secretary general of FPI-GOR (the Gbagbo tendency of the Ivorian Popular Front, generally called GOR for“ Gbagbo or nothing ”) and member of the organizing committee. of the reception of Laurent Gbagbo.
In the same vein, ex-minister Koné Katinan, spokesperson for Gbagbo, even worried about the safety of his leader. And according to Fabrice Lago, also a member of the said committee, “the president was scheduled to go through the presidential pavilion. The fact that the authorities put it at their disposal was a sign of good faith. The fact that President Gbagbo agreed was a sign of his good mood. But when he got off the plane, when he was given an update on the situation in Abidjan, he refused to accept the honor of the presidential flag while his supporters are being molested “.
The first words … after 10 years of absence
After the airport episode, the procession of the former head of state set off for his former campaign HQ from where he thanked both his supporters and his collaborators and all the heads of African and non-African state which supported it during these 10 years of legal proceedings. “I am happy to return to the Ivory Coast and Africa”, he declared before launching at the place of Assoa Adou, to be at the disposal of his party as “a soldier ready to serve”. Laurent Gbagbo promises to unfold his political agenda in the days to come.
Bédié welcomes a day that will boost reconciliation
The Ivorian political class did not remain on the sidelines of this event. Former President Henri Konan Bédié, who has come close to Laurent Gbagbo after having “flirted” with Alassane Ouattara for a long time, estimated that this return will ease the socio-political atmosphere. “I have always considered it important for him to come back in order to start a real process of reconciliation together,” said the boss of the PDCI-RDA. While according to Adama Bictogo, executive director of RHDP, this return “is a non-event”.
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