Ivory Coast ex-president Gbagbo freed by Hague court

Former Ivory Coast President Laurent Gbagbo was freed from detention by the International Criminal Court on Friday, under the condition that he will stay in the country that accepts to take him in and that he will return to the court when asked to do so.

Reading a unanimous decision by a five-strong appeals panel, presiding Judge Chile Eboe-Osuji ordered Gbagbo and co-defendant Charles Blé Goudé “to be released to a state willing to accept them on its territories”.

Gbagbo, who ruled Ivory Coast from 2000-2011, has spent seven years in custody in The Hague.

The men were acquitted of atrocities charges on Jan. 15 but had been kept in detention pending objections by prosecutors, who plan to appeal against the acquittal and sought guarantees that the men would return to court later if required.

A spokesman for the ICC on Friday night said both men had left the detention center in The Hague “as an interim measure,” without providing further details.

Documents released by the appeals panel said both men were not allowed “to travel beyond the territorial limits of the (…) receiving State without the explicit and prior authorization of the Court,” but gave no reference to their destination after their release.