Former Prime Minister Guillaume Soro was sentenced to life in prison on Wednesday by Abidjan’s criminal court for “undermining state authority”, “conspiracy” and “spreading false information”. The other defendants received sentences ranging from 17 months to 20 years in prison.
At the end of the hearing in Abidjan, Me Raoul Gohi Bi, one of the convicts’ lawyers, promised to challenge Domen, relies on the “wisdom” of appellate judges to “help restore law”.
In Europe, where Guillaume Soro still resides, his council wonders about this conversation, which “will not change anything before a legal system” according to one of them. But they are already warning: “as soon as the verdict is announced, we will attack it”, Me Robin Binsard said.
► To listen as well: News call:[Vos réactions] Guillaume Soro was sentenced to life in prison
The lawyer plans to file “additional complaints” before international courts that have already been brought on behalf of the former president of the National Assembly and his relatives.
Four proceedings are currently under way: before the UN Working Group on Arbitrary Detention, before the UN Human Rights Committee, before the French courts for a recording broadcast by Ivorian prosecutor Richard Adou and before the African Court of Human Rights.
Seized in an emergency, it gave reason twice to Guillaume Soro last year and asked for the end of the proceedings against him and the release of the imprisoned people. Decision that led to the Ivorian government partially withdrawing from the court. A substantive judgment must be decided at the end of the year.
Since he could not return to his country in December 2019, Guillaume Soro has fought a real legal battle with the authorities in his country. As a reminder, he had already been sentenced in April 2020 to 20 years in prison in Côte d’Ivoire for “concealing embezzlement of public funds” and “money laundering”. Since May 2020, he has also been the subject of a complaint in Paris for “murder”, “torture” and “war crimes”.
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