Laurent Gbagbo
ohio rev dr lobby:
Following his primary challenge to Schmidt, McEwen worked as a lobbyist for Côte d'Ivoire strongman Laurent Gbagbo.[62] "In December [2010], McEwen was hired at a rate of $25,000 per month to assist the Ivorian ambassador to the U.S. 'in exerting his influence in the most strategic way possible,' according to lobbying records."[62] When asked about his representation of Gbagbo, McEwen said: "I was a member of the intelligence committee. There are not too many places in Africa I haven't been. So I'm knowledgeable of the issue and what's going on."[62] "Despite allegations of human rights abuses, McEwen still supports Gbagbo, calling the 2010 crisis 'a coup in progress' by Gbagbo's opponents. He believes the international response is driven by French financial interests in the country."[62]
Koudou Laurent Gbagbo[note 2][3] (Gagnoa Bété: Gbagbo [ɡ͡baɡ͡bo]; French pronunciation: [loʁɑ̃ baɡbo]; born 31 May 1945) is an Ivorian politician who was the President of Côte d'Ivoire from 2000 until his arrest in April 2011. A historian, Gbagbo was imprisoned in the early 1970s and again in the early 1990s, and he lived in exile in France during much of the 1980s as a result of his union activism. Gbagbo founded the Ivorian Popular Front (FPI) in 1982 and ran unsuccessfully for president against Félix Houphouët-Boigny at the start of multi-party politics in 1990. He won a seat in the National Assembly of Côte d'Ivoire in 1990.
Gbagbo claimed victory after Robert Guéï, head of a military junta, barred other leading politicians from running in the October 2000 presidential election. The Ivorian people took to the streets, toppling Guéï. Gbagbo was then installed as president.
In the 2010 presidential election, Alassane Ouattara defeated Gbagbo, and was recognized as the winner by election observers, the international community, the African Union (AU), and the Economic Community of West African States. However, Gbagbo refused to step down, despite mounting international pressure.[4][5] The Independent Electoral Commission (IEC) announced that Ouattara had won the race with 54% of the vote, a tally that the United Nations concluded was credible; however, the Constitutional Council, a body dominated by pro-Gbagbo members, annulled the results in Ouattara's electoral strongholds in the north, claiming fraud, and declared Gbagbo the winner with 51% of the vote.[6] In December 2010, both Gbagbo and Ouattara assumed the presidency, triggering a short period of civil conflictin which about 3,000 people were killed.[7]
Gbagbo was arrested in 2011 by pro-Ouattara forces, who were supported by French troops.[8] Gbagbo was extradited to The Hague in November 2011, where he was charged with four counts of crimes against humanity in the International Criminal Court in connection with the post-election violence.[7][9] Gbagbo was the first former head of state to be taken into the court's custody. In January 2019, an ICC panel dismissed the charges against Gbagbo and one of his former ministers, Charles Blé Goudé, determining that the evidence presented was insufficient to prove that the pair committed crimes against humanity.[7][9] Prosecutors appealed the decision, and Gbagbo was prohibited from returning to Côte d'Ivoire pending the appeal proceedings.[10] The ICC ultimately upheld Gbagbo's acquittal, and in April 2021, Ouattara stated he and Blé Goudé were free to return to the country.[11]
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After his acquittal was confirmed, current Ivorian President Alassane Ouattara, Gbagbo's rival, invited him back to Côte d'Ivoire.[76] He arrived in Adbidjan on 17 June 2021, on a commercial flight from Brussels, where he had been living for the previous three years after being released from detention.[77][78] Ouattara arranged him a diplomatic passport, and promised him the benefits that are typically given to ex-presidents, including state-provided security and a state pension.[78]
Six of Gbagbo's former allies also returned after spending years in exile after being encouraged by the current president Ouattara.[79][80] In October 2021, Gbagbo launched a new political party called the African People's Party – Cote d'Ivoire (PPA-CI).[81] In December 2021, he spent four days in Ghana. According to a statement from his party, he went there to attend the funeral of Captain Kojo Tsikata, a man close to the former president of Ghana Jerry Rawlings. Laurent Gbagbo also visited the Ivorian exiles, whose return he wanted to the country since the Ivorian crisis, 11,000 Ivorians fled the post-election crisis to seek asylum in neighboring Ghana.[82][83]