MOSCOW (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 06th August, 2020) The Ivorian police have fired tear gas in the coastal city of Abidjan to disperse a protest of supporters of former president Laurent Gbagbo who was banned from the upcoming presidential election, media in Ivory Coast reported on Thursday.
The Connectionivoirienne news outlet said the protest began spontaneously as protesters gathered in the morning and marched toward the electoral commission headquarters in the Cocody district. They demanded that Gbagbo be let participate in the election.
As the march was not an "authorized" one and resulted in severe traffic disruptions, police fired tear gas to disperse the protesters, according to the report.
Gbagbo served as the Ivorian president since 2000 until an election in 2010 saw the incumbent president, Alassane Ouattara, claim the victory. Gbagbo refused to admit defeat and started five-month-long domestic unrest that claimed more than 3,000 lives in armed action.
Gbagbo was eventually subdued with the help of the French military and forces of the UN Mission in March and subsequently tried on charges of corruption, embezzlement and abuse of power in mid-2011. Later that year, he stood before the International Criminal Court (ICC) and was confronted with charges of war crimes during the months of the Ivorian political crisis.
In 2019, the ICC cleared Gbagbo of charges and he self-exiled in Belgium.
