After the shock acquittal of former Ivory Coast president Laurent Gbagbo and his right-hand man on Tuesday at the International Criminal Court, prosecutors vowed to push on with an appeal and cautioned against releasing the men.
In Tuesday's ruling, judges at The Hague-based court found that prosecutors had failed to prove any case against Mr Gbagbo and they could no longer justify his detention, more than seven years after he was arrested and extradited to the court.
The former president’s acquittal was criticised by victims' groups for those who died in violence following Ivory Coast's 2010 elections that Mr Gbagbo was accused of orchestrating. But it was welcomed by his supporters and opened the possibility that he could return to politics in the Ivory Coast.
As the court reconvened on Wednesday to discuss the terms of Mr Gbagbo's release, prosecutors said that they intended to appeal his acquittal, once the judges publish their formal decision and full reasoning.
The prosecution filed an "urgent request" saying it "has determined that it intends to appeal... following the acquittals".
Prosecutors also said there were "exceptional reasons" to oppose Gbagbo's unconditional release, citing a "concrete risk" that he would not come back if their appeal was successful and the trial was to continue. They asked that Mr Gbagbo, therefore, not be allowed to return to Ivory Coast due to concern he might not again submit to the court's jurisdiction for appeals proceedings.
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But they said they would accept his release "if the flight risk can be mitigated by imposing a series of conditions, including that they be released to a State Party... other than Cote d'Ivoire [Ivory Coast]".
Lawyers for the Ivory Coast politician said the prosecution request showed they hadn't yet come to terms with the scale of their legal defeat.
"Laurent Gbagbo is no longer an accused person. Laurent Gbagbo has been acquitted. He is no longer presumed to be innocent – he has been acknowledged as being innocent," the former president’s lawyer, Emmanuel Altit, told the court. "He was acquitted of all accusations by the prosecutors. In these circumstances it is also meaningless to consider that Laurent Gbagbo would be a flight risk, or would abscond justice – justice has acquitted him."
During the trial, which opened in January 2016, prosecutors said Mr Gbagbo clung to power "by all means" after he was narrowly beaten by his bitter rival – now president – Alassane Ouattara in elections.
Mr Gbagbo has been in detention since 2011, when he was captured by Mr Ouattara's troops, who were being aided by UN and French forces, and sent to The Hague.
In a majority decision by two judges to one, the ICC said on Tuesday that prosecutors "failed to satisfy the burden of proof to the requisite standard".
The judges said prosecutors had failed to provide evidence of a "common plan" to keep Gbagbo in power, a policy of attacking civilians, or that speeches by Mr Gbagbo or right-hand man Charles Ble Goude, who was also standing trial, incited violence.
Prosecutors called the decision "disappointing and unexpected".
But analysts said the ICC decision would at least counter one lingering criticism of the tribunal.
"One positive that the prosecutor may be able to take from this is that it undermines the notion that the ICC unfairly targets ousted African leaders," Mark Kersten of the University of Toronto told AFP.
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In numbers: PKK’s money network in Europe
Germany: PKK collectors typically bring in $18 million in cash a year – amount has trebled since 2010
Revolutionary tax: Investigators say about $2 million a year raised from ‘tax collection’ around Marseille
Extortion: Gunman convicted in 2023 of demanding $10,000 from Kurdish businessman in Stockholm
Drug trade: PKK income claimed by Turkish anti-drugs force in 2024 to be as high as $500 million a year
Denmark: PKK one of two terrorist groups along with Iranian separatists ASMLA to raise “two-digit million amounts”
Contributions: Hundreds of euros expected from typical Kurdish families and thousands from business owners
TV channel: Kurdish Roj TV accounts frozen and went bankrupt after Denmark fined it more than $1 million over PKK links in 2013
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AT4 Ultimate, as tested
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Key facilities
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- Premier League-standard football pitch
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- Specialist robotics and science laboratories
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COMPANY PROFILE
Name: Kumulus Water
Started: 2021
Founders: Iheb Triki and Mohamed Ali Abid
Based: Tunisia
Sector: Water technology
Number of staff: 22
Investment raised: $4 million
Milestones on the road to union
1970
October 26: Bahrain withdraws from a proposal to create a federation of nine with the seven Trucial States and Qatar.
December: Ahmed Al Suwaidi visits New York to discuss potential UN membership.
1971
March 1: Alex Douglas Hume, Conservative foreign secretary confirms that Britain will leave the Gulf and “strongly supports” the creation of a Union of Arab Emirates.
July 12: Historic meeting at which Sheikh Zayed and Sheikh Rashid make a binding agreement to create what will become the UAE.
July 18: It is announced that the UAE will be formed from six emirates, with a proposed constitution signed. RAK is not yet part of the agreement.
August 6: The fifth anniversary of Sheikh Zayed becoming Ruler of Abu Dhabi, with official celebrations deferred until later in the year.
August 15: Bahrain becomes independent.
September 3: Qatar becomes independent.
November 23-25: Meeting with Sheikh Zayed and Sheikh Rashid and senior British officials to fix December 2 as date of creation of the UAE.
November 29: At 5.30pm Iranian forces seize the Greater and Lesser Tunbs by force.
November 30: Despite a power sharing agreement, Tehran takes full control of Abu Musa.
November 31: UK officials visit all six participating Emirates to formally end the Trucial States treaties
December 2: 11am, Dubai. New Supreme Council formally elects Sheikh Zayed as President. Treaty of Friendship signed with the UK. 11.30am. Flag raising ceremony at Union House and Al Manhal Palace in Abu Dhabi witnessed by Sheikh Khalifa, then Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi.
December 6: Arab League formally admits the UAE. The first British Ambassador presents his credentials to Sheikh Zayed.
December 9: UAE joins the United Nations.
'O'
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Mercer, the investment consulting arm of US services company Marsh & McLennan, expects its wealth division to at least double its assets under management (AUM) in the Middle East as wealth in the region continues to grow despite economic headwinds, a company official said.
Mercer Wealth, which globally has $160 billion in AUM, plans to boost its AUM in the region to $2-$3bn in the next 2-3 years from the present $1bn, said Yasir AbuShaban, a Dubai-based principal with Mercer Wealth.
“Within the next two to three years, we are looking at reaching $2 to $3 billion as a conservative estimate and we do see an opportunity to do so,” said Mr AbuShaban.
Mercer does not directly make investments, but allocates clients’ money they have discretion to, to professional asset managers. They also provide advice to clients.
“We have buying power. We can negotiate on their (client’s) behalf with asset managers to provide them lower fees than they otherwise would have to get on their own,” he added.
Mercer Wealth’s clients include sovereign wealth funds, family offices, and insurance companies among others.
From its office in Dubai, Mercer also looks after Africa, India and Turkey, where they also see opportunity for growth.
Wealth creation in Middle East and Africa (MEA) grew 8.5 per cent to $8.1 trillion last year from $7.5tn in 2015, higher than last year’s global average of 6 per cent and the second-highest growth in a region after Asia-Pacific which grew 9.9 per cent, according to consultancy Boston Consulting Group (BCG). In the region, where wealth grew just 1.9 per cent in 2015 compared with 2014, a pickup in oil prices has helped in wealth generation.
BCG is forecasting MEA wealth will rise to $12tn by 2021, growing at an annual average of 8 per cent.
Drivers of wealth generation in the region will be split evenly between new wealth creation and growth of performance of existing assets, according to BCG.
Another general trend in the region is clients’ looking for a comprehensive approach to investing, according to Mr AbuShaban.
“Institutional investors or some of the families are seeing a slowdown in the available capital they have to invest and in that sense they are looking at optimizing the way they manage their portfolios and making sure they are not investing haphazardly and different parts of their investment are working together,” said Mr AbuShaban.
Some clients also have a higher appetite for risk, given the low interest-rate environment that does not provide enough yield for some institutional investors. These clients are keen to invest in illiquid assets, such as private equity and infrastructure.
“What we have seen is a desire for higher returns in what has been a low-return environment specifically in various fixed income or bonds,” he said.
“In this environment, we have seen a de facto increase in the risk that clients are taking in things like illiquid investments, private equity investments, infrastructure and private debt, those kind of investments were higher illiquidity results in incrementally higher returns.”
The Abu Dhabi Investment Authority, one of the largest sovereign wealth funds, said in its 2016 report that has gradually increased its exposure in direct private equity and private credit transactions, mainly in Asian markets and especially in China and India. The authority’s private equity department focused on structured equities owing to “their defensive characteristics.”
Director: Laxman Utekar
Cast: Vicky Kaushal, Akshaye Khanna, Diana Penty, Vineet Kumar Singh, Rashmika Mandanna
Rating: 1/5
