News: Ivory Coast First Lady, Simone Gbagbo sentenced to 20 years imprisonment for post election violence

Former Ivorian First Lady Mrs c has been sentenced to 20
years imprisonment by an Ivorian court for organizing post
election violence after her husband, Laurent Gbagbo lost
out in the 2010 Presidential elections in Ivory Coast.
In a unanimous judgement today March 10th, the court said
Mrs Gbagbo together with her husband's supporters, after
rejecting the results from the elections that saw her
husband's main rival, Alassane Ouattara declared winner of
the election, carried out activities that undermined the state
security which left over 3000 people dead.
Laurent Gbagbo's son from a previous marriage, Michel
Gbagbo, was also sentenced to 5 years imprisonment for
his role in the post election violence. Lawyers to Mrs
Gbagbo say they would be appealing the judgement.
Ivory Coast's former first lady, Simone Gbagbo, has been
sentenced to 20 years in jail for her role in the violence
that followed the 2010 elections.
Gbagbo, 65, had been charged with undermining state
security.
Her husband, former Ivorian President Laurent Gbagbo, is
awaiting trial at the International Criminal Court.
More than 3,000 people died in the violence that followed
the presidential poll after the ex-leader refused to accept
defeat to Alassane Ouattara.
She and her husband were arrested in 2011 after troops
stormed a bunker where the pair had taken refuge in the
main city, Abidjan.
And it was in the same city where Gbagbo - once called the
"Iron Lady" - faced trial. She was also accused of disturbing
public order and organising armed gangs.
The court unanimously sentenced her to 20 years, twice as
long as the prosecutors had asked for.
Her daughter, Marie Antoinette Singleton, told the BBC the
sentence was unfair and a sign of "political justice".
"Why would you want to double it? It's not about justice, it's
about getting rid of political adversaries."
"If we say that something wrong happened, it happened on
both sides. Nobody looked into bringing all responsible
parties to trial," she said.
Simone Gbagbo's lawyer said they would appeal.
Laurent Gbagbo, is facing four charges at the ICC in The
Hague, including murder, rape and persecution.
The ICC had issued an arrest warrant for Simone Gbagbo
too, but this was dismissed by the Ivorian government.
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