Image copyright AFP Image caption Laurent Gbagbo had been charged with crimes against humanity

The International Criminal Court (ICC) in The Hague has acquitted Ivory Coast ex-President Laurent Gbagbo.

He had been charged with crimes against humanity in connection with violence following a disputed 2010 election that left 3,000 dead and 500,000 displaced.

Mr Gbagbo was captured in 2011 in a presidential palace bunker by UN and French-backed forces supporting his rival, Alassane Ouattara.

He was the first former head of state to go on trial at the ICC.

What was Mr Gbagbo accused of?

The violence in Ivory Coast, the world's biggest cocoa producer, came after Mr Gbagbo refused to accept that he had lost a disputed election run-off to Mr Ouattara in 2010.

The five months of violence that followed were described as some of the most brutal clashes the country had ever seen.

During the political stand-off there were bloody clashes and targeted killings in Abidjan in the south, and several hundred were massacred in the western town of Duekoue.

Prosecutors said Mr Gbagbo clung to power "by all means" and charged him with four counts of crimes against humanity, murder, rape and other forms of sexual violence, persecution and "other inhuman acts".

He denied the charges, which he said were politically motivated.

Image copyright AFP Image caption Victims of the 2010 post-election violence are opposed to Mr Gbagbo's release

ICC judges ruled on Tuesday that he had no case to answer and ordered his immediate release.

Prosecutors had failed to demonstrate "the existence of a 'common plan' to keep Mr Gbagbo in power" which included crimes against civilians, or a "policy to attack a civilian population", the ICC said.

Presiding Judge Cuno Tarfusser said the prosecution had also "failed to demonstrate that public speeches by Gbagbo constituted ordering or inducing the alleged crimes".

Prosecutors can appeal after the court files its decision in writing.

Mr Gbagbo's supporters whooped, cheered and threw their firsts in the air in the public gallery following the announcement, the BBC's Anna Holligan reports from the court.

Image copyright AFP Image caption Mr Gbagbo's supporters are jubilant

One of his supporters, Gragbayou Yves, who had travelled to the court from Paris, told AFP news agency: "I am very, very happy. Finally there is some justice."

However, victims of the violence are opposed to his release.

"If Laurent Gbagbo is released, we victims will not see justice," Karim Coulibaly, who was shot in the violence and had to have his arm amputated, told AFP earlier.

"I was a driver but now I am unemployed. I'm not against reconciliation but first you have to look after the victims."

Paolina Massidda, a lawyer representing the victims said she "deeply regrets" the decision.

"The victims participated in this trial in the hope that an impartial tribunal could one day give them justice. That hope is today in vain," she added.

Is this a blow to the ICC?

"Whenever a case involving mass atrocities essentially collapses at the ICC, it does damage to the perception of the court as a credible and effective institution of international justice," Mark Kersten, author of Justice in Conflict, told the BBC's Anna Holligan.

"Many are concerned that the court is emerging as an institution where only rebels can be successfully prosecuted," he added.

The prosecution at the ICC has also failed in its attempts to build successful cases against former DR Congo Vice-President Jean-Pierre Bemba, and Kenyan President Uhuru Kenyatta.

On the other hand, the ruling demonstrates the judges' independence and impartiality and makes it harder to push the narrative, popular among those who fear the long arm of the ICC, that the court is a biased weapon of neo-colonial justice used purely to convict African leaders, our correspondent says.

Janet Anderson, a writer for the Justice Tribune, told the BBC: "It's important also to find people not guilty or to find there isn't a case to answer if there isn't one."</s>International Criminal Court judges on Tuesday acquitted former Ivorian leader Laurent Gbagbo of all war crimes charges and ordered his immediate release.

The ruling comes as a blow to prosecutors who have lost other major cases in recent years.

Presiding Judge Cuno Tarfusser said prosecutors failed to prove their case against Gbagbo and co-defendant Charles Blé Goudé, a close ally and former youth leader in the West African country, who was ordered to be set free.

“The majority finds that the prosecution has failed to demonstrate there was a common plan to keep Mr Gbagbo in power that included the commission of crimes against civilians,” Tarfusser said.

Outside the courthouse, dozens of Gbagbo supporters, many who travelled to The Hague by bus from Paris, broke into cheers and dancing when the verdict was announced.

Gbagbo was the first former head of state to stand trial at the ICC, and his acquittal was a major setback for the prosecution.

Other setbacks to hit the ICC are defeats in cases against Jean-Pierre Bemba, the Congolese ex-vice president released last year after his war crimes conviction was overturned, and Kenyan President Uhuru Kenyatta, who had charges against him dropped in 2015.

Gbagbo, 73, and Goudé, had been on trial since 2016 for war crimes allegedly committed under Gbagbo’s leadership.

The former leader faced four counts of crimes against humanity, including murder, rape, persecution and other inhumane acts during post-electoral violence in Ivory Coast between December 2010 and April 2011, when Gbagbo refused to accept defeat by rival and incumbent president, Alassane Ouattara.</s>Judges at the International Criminal Court have acquitted former Ivory Coast president Laurent Gbagbo of crimes committed following disputed elections in 2010.

The court in The Hague also acquitted the country’s former youth minister Charles Ble Goude, saying prosecutors failed to prove their case.

Presiding Judge Cuno Tarfusser ordered the immediate release of the 73-year-old Gbagbo and Ble Goude, following the judgment mid-way through their trial.

Mr Tarfusser said a majority of the three-judge chamber ruled that “the prosecutor has failed to satisfy the burden of proof” against both men.

Lawyers for Gbagbo and Ble Goude asked judges last year to acquit both men for lack of evidence at the end of the prosecution case in their trial that began just under three years ago.

Mr Tarfusser later suspended his order ahead of a follow-up hearing on Wednesday, when prosecutors are expected to announce whether they will appeal.

Gbagbo was the first former president to go on trial at the global court and his case was seen as a milestone in efforts to bring to justice even the highest-ranking leaders accused of atrocities.

Mr Tarfusser said it was a matter of public record that Ivory Coast was wracked by post-election violence in 2010 and early 2011, but he said prosecutors did not present evidence that Gbagbo and Ble Goude formulated a common plan for their supporters to unleash violence.

More than 3,000 people were killed after Gbagbo refused to accept defeat by his rival and current Ivory Coast President Alassane Ouattara.

As Mr Tarfusser announced the acquittals, supporters of Gbagbo and Ble Goude stood up and cheered in the courtroom’s gallery. Supporters of Gbagbo outside the International Criminal Court in The Hague (AP Photo/Peter Dejong, Pool)

The ruling was the latest defeat for prosecutors at the world’s first global war crimes court.

The case against Kenyan President Uhuru Kenyatta, who was also accused of involvement — before he became president — in post-election violence in his country, collapsed in December 2014.

Last year a former Congolese vice president, Jean-Pierre Bemba, was acquitted on appeal of crimes allegedly committed by his militia in neighbouring Central African Republic.</s>THE HAGUE - Former Ivory Coast president Laurent Gbagbo will hear from the International Criminal Court (ICC) on Tuesday if he will be freed after seven years behind bars on charges of crimes against humanity.

Judges at The Hague-based court will deliver the eagerly awaited decisions at 10:00 GMT on requests by 73-year-old Gbagbo for an outright acquittal or conditional release.

About 3,000 people were killed in the West African nation in a violent standoff in 2010-2011 when Gbagbo refused to accept defeat in an election against his bitter rival and now Ivorian President Alassane Ouattara.

Tensions will be high in the Ivory Coast where about 200 victims gathered on Monday in Abidjan to urge the ICC to keep Gbagbo in jail.

“We have come to officially and publicly oppose any release of Laurent Gbagbo - the ICC is acting as if the victims didn’t exist,” Issiaka Diaby, head of a group which represents 8,000 victims, told AFP.

“If Laurent Gbagbo is released, we victims will not see justice,” added Karim Coulibaly, 43, whose arm was amputated after he was shot during the violence.

“I was a driver but now I am unemployed. I’m not against reconciliation but first, you have to look after the victims.”

The ICC will also rule on a bid for release by Charles Ble Goude, 47, dubbed Gbagbo’s “Street General”, who is on trial with his former boss.

Gbagbo and Ble Goude face four counts of crimes against humanity for murder, rape, persecution and other inhumane acts committed by pro-Gbagbo forces in the aftermath of the disputed 2010 polls.

The international community, including former colonial power France backed Ouattara as the winner, and Gbagbo was eventually arrested by Ouattara’s troops aided by UN and French forces and sent to The Hague for trial in November 2011.

Prosecutors said Gbagbo, the first former head of state to be handed over to the ICC, clung to power “by all means” in the world’s largest cocoa producer.

After numerous delays, Gbagbo’s trial opened in 2016 with the prosecution calling more than 80 witnesses.

But Gbagbo’s lawyers last year argued that his case had descended into “fake reality” and should be dismissed.

And at a hearing in December, they argued that the “elderly and fragile” Gbagbo would not pose a flight risk if conditionally released.

As the trial drags on observers in The Hague pointed out that it was hard to establish a direct link between Gbagbo and Ble Goude and the crimes they are charged with despite a high number of prosecution witnesses.

In a highly unusual step, ICC judges last year told prosecutors to file a “mid-trial brief” to clarify evidence.

Previous attempts at the ICC to try top politicians for crimes committed by subordinates or followers - most of them in Africa - have all run into serious difficulties.

“The pressure to have this case a success for the prosecution is enormous,” the online justice website Justiceinfo.net said.

The ICC’s chief prosecutor Fatou Bensouda in 2014 dropped crimes against humanity charges against Kenyan President Uhuru Kenyatta.

Last year, former Congolese vice-president Jean-Pierre Bemba was acquitted on appeal for crimes allegedly committed by his militia in the Central African Republic in 2002-2003.

“If Gbagbo walks out free, the ICC should rethink what it could possibly achieve,” said Bouwknegt.

The ICC was set up in 2002 to try the world’s worst crimes including war crimes and crimes against humanity. So far most of its cases have involved African countries.

If the ICC judges indeed decide to free Gbagbo he will be following his wife Simone Gbagbo.

The so-called Iron Lady walked away from a 20-year jail term in Ivory Coast in August when she was granted an amnesty by Ouattara after seven years in detention.

Victims’ rights campaigner Diaby claimed that Ouattara “didn’t have the right” to grant release to Simone Gbagbo and around 800 other people.

Diaby was particularly concerned about any move to release Laurent Gbagbo, saying: “We know he’ll just disappear.”</s>The Hague, Netherlands | AFP | The International Criminal Court on Tuesday acquitted former Ivory Coast president Laurent Gbagbo of all charges of crimes against humanity over post-electoral violence in the West African nation, and ordered his immediate release.

Head judge Cuno Tarfusser said the court in The Hague “grants the defence motions for acquittal for all charges for Mr Laurent Gbagbo” and his right-hand man, Charles Ble Goude.</s>NAN The International Criminal Court (ICC) on Tuesday acquitted former Ivorian leader Laurent Gbagbo of war crimes...</s>Prosecutors at the International Criminal Court on Wednesday asked judges to bar former Ivory Coast President Laurent Gbagbo from returning to his homeland, a day after he was acquitted on charges of crimes against humanity.

In Tuesday's shock ruling, judges found that prosecutors had failed to prove any case against Gbagbo and they could no longer justify his detention, more than seven years after he was arrested and extradited to the court.

Gbagbo's acquittal was deplored by victims' groups for those who died in violence following Ivory Coast's 2010 elections that Gbagbo was accused of orchestrating. But it was welcomed by his supporters and opened the possibility that he could return to politics in Ivory Coast.

As the court reconvened on Wednesday to discuss the terms of Gbagbo's release, prosecutors said that they intended to appeal his acquittal, once the judges publish their formal decision and full reasoning.</s>The Hague (Reuters) - Prosecutors at the International Criminal Court on Wednesday asked judges to bar former Ivory Coast President Laurent Gbagbo from returning to his homeland, a day after he was acquitted on charges of crimes against humanity.

In Tuesday’s shock ruling, judges found that prosecutors had failed to prove any case against Gbagbo and they could no longer justify his detention, more than seven years after he was arrested and extradited to the court.

Gbagbo’s acquittal was deplored by victims’ groups for those who died in violence following Ivory Coast’s 2010 elections that Gbagbo was accused of orchestrating. But it was welcomed by his supporters and opened the possibility that he could return to politics in Ivory Coast.

As the court reconvened on Wednesday to discuss the terms of Gbagbo’s release, prosecutors said that they intended to appeal his acquittal, once the judges publish their formal decision and full reasoning.

They asked that Gbagbo therefore not be allowed to return to Ivory Coast due to concern he might not again submit to the court’s jurisdiction for appeals proceedings.

Lawyers for the Ivory Coast politician said the prosecution request showed they hadn’t yet come to terms with the scale of their legal defeat.

“Laurent Gbagbo is no longer an accused person. Laurent Gbagbo has been acquitted. He is no longer presumed to be innocent - he has been acknowledged as being innocent,” Gbagbo’s lawyer Emmanuel Altit told the court.

“He was acquitted of all accusations by the prosecutors. In these circumstances it is also meaningless to consider that Laurent Gbagbo would be a flight risk, or would abscond justice - justice has acquitted him.”</s>Ivory Coast's former president Laurent Gbagbo, acquitted on Tuesday of crimes against humanity, once battled for democracy, but his inability to let go of power was his downfall.

After seven years behind bars in The Hague, Gbagbo, 73, and his former right-hand man Charles Ble Goude, 47, were acquitted by the International Criminal Court (ICC) of crimes against humanity.

It was the 16-year-old court's first trial of a former head of state.

The charges related to a showdown in 2010 in which Gbagbo refused to accept election defeat to his rival Alassane Ouattara, prompting the nation's descent into bloodshed.

More than 3,000 people were killed in a conflict that turned the economic hub Abidjan, one of Africa's most cosmopolitan cities, into a war zone until Gbagbo and his wife Simone were grabbed from their bunker by pro-Ouattara forces on April 11, 2011.

Gbagbo, a onetime socialist and labour activist, came to power in the cocoa-rich economic powerhouse of West Africa in October 2000.

Two years later, he faced a rebellion that split the country, a harbinger of the worse violence that would follow.

A skilled orator who liked to play the man of the people, preferring African shirts over suits and ties, Gbagbo hid a ferocious will behind an affable exterior.

He exploited identity politics in his rise to power and stirred resentment towards Ivory Coast's former colonial power, France, which he claimed had plotted to force him out.

He maintained a strong following at home even while lingering in jail -- the Ivorian daily Le Temps once hailed him as "the legend that never dies."

Gbagbo cut his teeth in the trade union movement during long years of opposition to the "father of the nation", president Felix Houphouet-Boigny, who ruled from independence in 1960 until his death in 1993.

Born on May 31, 1945, educated in a Christian seminary and a historian by training, Gbagbo clandestinely founded the Ivorian Popular Front (FPI) to fight one-party rule, and sought exile in France in the 1980s.

A member of the Bete ethnic group, which was traditionally excluded from power, Gbagbo openly went into politics in 1990, when a multiparty system was introduced.

Elected a member of parliament, he looked on with glee as Houphouet-Boigny's supporters started attacking each other and fighting for power after the "Old Man" was dead.

His hour came on October 26, 2000, when he was elected president under conditions he himself admitted to be "calamitous", in a poll from which Ouattara was barred.

At times he also used Ble Goude's Young Patriots movement to bolster his strength by organising riots, notably against French and other foreigners targeted by Gbagbo under his xenophobic brand of identity politics.

He often blamed the country's woes on foreigners and sowed stark divisions between north and south.

Gbagbo managed to stay in office after a coup bid in 2002, but only kept control of the southern half of the country.

The New Forces (FN) rebel movement took the north, Ouattara's stronghold. After a failed attempt to reconquer the north by military means in 2004, Gbagbo signed a peace deal with the rebels in 2007.

The wily Gbagbo long managed to stave off promised elections despite strong international and regional pressure.

Once he was beaten by former international banker Ouattara in November 2010, he refused to accept the result and fighting erupted.

The ICC opened an investigation into the violence in 2011 and charged Gbagbo with four crimes against humanity, including murder, persecution and rape.

His trial was linked with Ble Goude's after the youth leader was flown to The Hague, but the judges ruled on Tuesday that there was no evidence of a "common plan" to foment violence.

In pre-trial hearings, Gbagbo adamantly denied the charges, saying: "All my life, I fought for democracy."</s>THE HAGUE (Reuters) – International Criminal Court judges on Tuesday acquitted former Ivorian leader Laurent Gbagbo of all war crimes charges and ordered his immediate release in a blow to prosecutors who have lost other major cases in recent years.

Presiding Judge Cuno Tarfusser said prosecutors failed to prove their case against Gbagbo and co-defendant Charles Blé Goudé, a close ally and former political youth leader, who were ordered to be set free.

“The majority finds that the prosecution has failed to demonstrate there was a common plan to keep Mr. Gbagbo in power that included the commission of crimes against civilians,” Tarfusser said.

Outside the courthouse, dozens of Gbagbo supporters, many who travelled to The Hague by bus from Paris, broke into cheers and dancing when the verdict was announced.

“Ooh-la-la, the judge completely dropped the charges,” said Gbagbo supporter Olivier Kipre in the Ivorian capital Abidjan.

“I’m so joyful. I will become crazy today because I didn’t believe he would be released.”

Gbagbo was the first former head of state to stand trial at the ICC.

Acquittal was a major setback for the prosecution, stung by defeats in cases against Jean-Pierre Bemba, the Congolese ex-vice president released last year after his war crimes conviction was overturned, and Kenyan President Uhuru Kenyatta, who had charges against him dropped in 2015.

Prosecutors have only won three war crimes convictions over the past 15 years.

Gbagbo, 73, and Goudé, had been on trial since 2016 for war crimes allegedly committed under Gbagbo’s leadership.

The former leader faced four counts of crimes against humanity, including murder, rape, persecution and other inhumane acts during post-electoral violence in Ivory Coast between December 2010 and April 2011, when Gbagbo refused to accept defeat by rival Alassane Ouattara.

“There is no need for the defence to submit further evidence as the prosecutor has not satisfied the burden of proof,” added the judge Tarfusser.

Gbagbo heard the ruling dressed in a dark blue suit, and the judge had to order supporters in the public gallery to calm down as they erupted in cheers.

Additional reporting by Toby Sterling in Amsterdam and Ange Aboa in Abidjan; Writing by Anthony Deutsch; Editing by Andrew Cawthorne
Laurent Gbagbo, former President of Ivory Coast, is acquitted of crimes against humanity charges by the International Criminal Court.