Breaking court in The Hague

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.

The violence in 2010 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.

ICC judges ruled on Tuesday that he had no case to answer
because the prosecution had not managed to prove several charges
against him. They have ordered his immediate release.

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

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.

• Gbagbo
  ruling rattles ICC foundations^[1]

Analysts say the development is a blow to the ICC’s
reputation.

“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^[2].

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