Ivory Coast Gbagbo to be tried at Hague for election violence

ABIDJAN, Ivory Coast - Former Ivory Coast President Laurent Gbagbo is be tried at the International Criminal Court on charges of crimes against humanity during post-election violence in which around 3,000 people were killed, judges said on Thursday.

Gbagbo is accused of plunging his country into civil war rather than relinquish his grip on power after losing a presidential run-off vote in 2010.

In the 131-page ruling, judges found there were "substantial grounds to believe" Gbagbo was
criminally responsible for the crimes committed during the violence, singling out supporters of his political rival Alassane Ouattara for "systematic attack".

Prosecutors say he devised a plan with co- conspirators including his wife Simone, who
remains under house arrest in Ivory Coast, and youth leader Charles Ble Goude, currently in ICC custody, to stoke the violence and benefit from it.

"It's the first victory for the victims of the post- election crisis," said Issiaka Diaby, who heads a collective of victims of the violence. "From today,
people will know you can no longer kill and burn people with impunity."

Lawyers for Gbagbo could not be immediately reached for comment and it was unclear whether they planned to appeal the judges' decision that
prosecutors had submitted enough evidence to justify pursuing the case.

"The Ivorian Popular Front expresses its astonishment and bitterness faced with a decision
that contributes nothing to national reconciliation," Gbagbo's political party said in a statement published late on Thursday.

Supporters of Gbagbo and Ble Goude have accused Ouattara, now president, of using the court as a political tool to get rid of his political enemies.

They have criticised prosecutors for bringing cases only against Gbagbo and his allies.