Former PM of Cote D’ivoire sentenced to life imprisonment

Former Prime Minister of Côte d’Ivoire and former rebel leader Guillaume Soro was on Wednesday, June 23, 2021 sentenced, in absentia, to life imprisonment for “undermining state security” for acts committed in late 2019.

The Abidjan court also sentenced other main defendants – Souleymane Kamagate, former head of protocol for Soro, Affoussy Bamba, former minister, and Toure Moussa, former head of communications for the former PM, to 20 years in prison, according to AFP.

Two of Guillaume Soro’s brothers and his former right-hand man Alain Lobognon were sentenced to 17 months in prison for “disrupting public order.”

The court also ordered the confiscation of the assets of Guillaume Soro and his 19 co-accused, as well as the dissolution of his party, ‘Générations et Peuples Solidaires’ (GPS), for involvement in “subversive acts.”

The court ordered the convicts to jointly pay one billion CFA francs (150 million euros) to the state of Côte d’Ivoire.

The former prime minister and former president of the National Assembly was accused of fomenting with his supporters a “civil and military insurrection” aimed at overthrowing power during his abortive return to Côte d’Ivoire in December 2019, ten months before the October 2020 presidential elections.

Guillaume Soro, 49, who lives in exile, and other co-defendants were accused of “conspiracy”, “attempting to undermine the authority of the state”, as well as “disseminating and publishing false news that discredit the institutions and their operation”.

Leader of the rebellion that controlled the northern half of Côte d’Ivoire in the 2000s, Guillaume Soro had militarily helped Alassane Ouattara come to power during the 2010-2011 post-election crisis against outgoing President Laurent Gbagbo, who refused to admit defeat at the ballot box.

After the victory, Soro became the first head of government in Ouattara, and in 2012 he was named president of the National Assembly, a position he held until 2019.

In April 2020, Soro had already been sentenced to 20 years in prison for misappropriating public funds for having tried, according to the courts, to appropriate a residence acquired by the State to accommodate him when he was prime minister.

This conviction justified the invalidation of his presidential candidacy a few months later.