Date set for prosecution appeal in Gbagbo case

Former Ivorian President Laurent Gbagbo and youth leader Charles Blé Goudé will remain in jail until 1 February, the International Criminal Court (ICC) has confirmed. It set that date for the prosecution's appeal against its ruling that they should be acquitted. Both men 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. As previously reported in Legalbrief Today, the court said prosecutors had ‘failed to satisfy the burden of proof to the requisite standard’. However, the court halted Gbagbo's release following a last-ditch application by prosecutors. The prosecution argued that there was a 'concrete risk' they could flee, and that they should stay behind bars while an appeal was heard. BBC News reports that the prosecution at the ICC has failed in previous attempts to build successful cases against Jean-Pierre Bemba, a former Vice-President of the DRC, and Kenyan President Uhuru Kenyatta.