Since the announcement on Tuesday morning of the re-election of Alassane Ouattara with more than 94% of the vote, according to preliminary figures from the Electoral Commission, new steps have been taken in the political opposition. The homes of several opponents were especially surrounded by the security forces. And this Wednesday morning, the tension has not abated.
With our correspondents in Abidjan,François Hume-Kerkatadji and Laurent Correau
This Tuesday, after surrounding him, the police entered the home of Henri Konan Bédié, whom the opposition proclaimed President of the Transitional National Council. This Wednesday, around the residence, the police force was reduced, but it is still impossible for visitors to access the house of the president of the PDCI. On both sides of the street, police and gendarmerie units block access and ask the curious to move around.
According to an internal source, Henri Konan Bédiése is in his residence. He is well and should visit ambassadors who have offered to come and meet him. However, nothing says they will actually be able to access it.
Arrests
This Tuesday night, there were also several arrests. According to a PDCI director, at least twenty people were taken to police headquarters, including Maurice Kakou Guikahué, the party’s number two and two senators. At least 17 people were then transferred to DST, an Ivorian intelligence service, where they were interrogated for several hours. A source states that they were not subjected to violence and that at least two of them were released.
Among these personalities are Philippe Ezalé, the former mayor of Grand-Bassam, Désirée Damoi, the director of the party shop or two lawyers from PDCI. At the headquarters of the Democratic Party, the young officials are trying to gather information about the current situation, but it is not easy. Thus, there are questions about the legal situation and the exact location, especially Maurice Kakou Guikahué.
Pascal Affi N’Guessan “probably somewhere“
As for the situation among other opposition leaders Ivorian politics, information seeps in. According to his entourage, Pascal Affi N’Guessan, spokesman for the opposition platform, has not been arrested. He is “safe somewhere”. He is not or he is no longer in his home, says a relative.
Entourage by Albert Toikeusse Mabri, President of the Union for Democracy and Peace in Côte d’Ivoire, evokes a “status quo”. “Since yesterday, this relative said, the blockade of the residence continues.” “He’s in with some of his collaborators,” confirms this source, who specifies that it is impossible to get in and leave.
As for Assoa Adou, the general secretary of FPI-GOR, Gbagbo or nothing, he explained to RFI that his home was still surrounded. No one can go in and out. “My lawyer came by last night,” the manager explains, “they prevented him from entering.” No information was given to this lawyer about the reasons for this deployment around the responsible residence.
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