ICC will not probe Gabon’s post-poll violence

The International Criminal Court (ICC) says it will not open a formal investigation into claims of post-election violence following the disputed 2016 Gabon presidential election. ‘There is no reasonable basis to believe that the acts allegedly committed in the context of the 2016 post-election violence amounted to crimes against humanity that the court is mandated to investigate and prosecute,’ the court’s lead prosecutor Fatou Bensouda said. A report on the News24 site notes that she added that the legal requirements for opening an investigation have not been satisfied. The re-election of President Ali Bongo in August 2016, by just a few thousand votes, led opposition leader Jean Ping to accuse the administration of electoral fraud. Violence broke out just days after the vote.

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