1. Home
  2. West Africa
  3. Côte d’Ivoire

Opposition politicians jailed for two years

Leading members of the opposition Rassemblement des Republicains (RDR) received prison terms of up to two years on Friday after being convicted under a law that holds the organisers of demonstrations responsible for violence that accompanies them. An Abidjan court sentenced RDR Secretary-General Henriette Diabate and 10 other senior members of the party to two years in prison and a fine of 300,000 CFA francs (about US $500) each. Five others received one-year prison terms. Their lawyers said they would appeal against the convictions. Another four accused were released. The 20 (19 RDR politicians and a journalist with a newspaper close to the party) were arrested on 27 October following an RDR protest that was accompanied by the destruction of buses and damage to the premises of a pro-government newspaper. They were charged under a vandalism law that holds the organisers of a protest responsible if it turns violent. The sentences came less than a month after a court ruled that documents produced as evidence that RDR leader Alassane Dramane Ouattara is an Ivoirian were invalid. Ouattara, who was prime minister of Cote d’Ivoire from 1990 to 1993, is the RDR’s candidate for presidential elections to be held late next year. However, the government contends that he is ineligible because he does not satisfy a constitutional requirement that presidential candidates must be Ivoirian citizens of Ivoirian parentage.

This article was produced by IRIN News while it was part of the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs. Please send queries on copyright or liability to the UN. For more information: https://shop.un.org/rights-permissions

Share this article

Get the day’s top headlines in your inbox every morning

Starting at just $5 a month, you can become a member of The New Humanitarian and receive our premium newsletter, DAWNS Digest.

DAWNS Digest has been the trusted essential morning read for global aid and foreign policy professionals for more than 10 years.

Government, media, global governance organisations, NGOs, academics, and more subscribe to DAWNS to receive the day’s top global headlines of news and analysis in their inboxes every weekday morning.

It’s the perfect way to start your day.

Become a member of The New Humanitarian today and you’ll automatically be subscribed to DAWNS Digest – free of charge.

Become a member of The New Humanitarian

Support our journalism and become more involved in our community. Help us deliver informative, accessible, independent journalism that you can trust and provides accountability to the millions of people affected by crises worldwide.

Join