Ivory Cost Ex-President Wife Jailed

According to Ivory news, due to the incident which resulted in violence and as a result 3,000 people were killed; the wife of Ivory Coast's ex-president has been jailed for 20 years for her role in the country's post-election tragedy.
Simone Gbagbo, who is also wanted by the International Criminal Court (ICC), was tried alongside 82 other supporters of Laurent Gbagbo.

General Bruno Dogbo Ble, who headed the elite republican guard, and former navy chief Admiral Vagba Faussignaux were also jailed for 20 years.

Lesser sentences were handed to other defendants including the Gbagbo's son, Michel, who got five years, according to his mother's lawyer Rodrigue Dadje.

"The jury members retained all the charges against her, including disturbing the peace, forming and organising armed gangs and undermining state security," he said.

Allies of ex-president Gbagbo, whose refusal to acknowledge his defeat to Alassane Ouattara in elections in late 2010 sparked a brief civil war, claimed his wife's trial was politically motivated.

The sentence given by the six-member jury followed nine hours of deliberations and was longer than the 10 years requested by the state prosecutor.

Simone Gbagbo's civil rights will also be suspended for a period of 10 years, Mr Dadje said.

Laurent Gbagbo is awaiting trial at the ICC accused of crimes against humanity for his alleged role in orchestrating the post-election violence.

Ivory Coast refused to transfer his wife to The Hague to face similar charges, arguing she could receive a fair trial at home.

Pascal Affi N'Guessan, president of Gbagbo's Ivorian Popular Front (FPI) party and seen as a potential challenger to President Ouattara in elections later this year, was handed an 18-month suspended sentence.

On the final day of the trial, Simone Gbagbo said she had been insulted and humiliated by the prosecution, which she claimed had failed to prove her guilt.

"I'm prepared to forgive. I forgive because, if we don't forgive, this country will burn," she said. "I am satisfied with this trial. I told my part of the truth."