An Ivory Coast court handed one of the nation's major political figures, Guillaume Soro, a 20-year prison sentence for embezzlement and money laundering after a one-day hearing in a move that'll prevent him from running in this year's presidential elections.
A former rebel leader and ex-Parliament speaker who's lived in Europe since last year, Soro was tried in absentia. He announced his intention to run for president in October. A warrant for his arrest was issued in the same week he tried to return to Ivory Coast.
Soro faced charges relating to the purchase of a property in 2007, when he was prime minister, which the state prosecutor said should have been transferred back to the state. The state also alleged he was involved in a 2017 coup plot in a separate case. Soro denied all of the charges.
The world's top cocoa producer is heading for the most tense elections since Alassane Ouattara became president in May 2011, following a violent standoff with former President Laurent Gbagbo, who had refused to accept defeat in a vote five months earlier. Under Ouattara, the economy has expanded at an average annual pace of more than 7% since 2012.
READ: The Rebel Turned Politician Who Wants to Rule Ivory Coast
While Soro's loyalties have zigzagged over the years, he played a key role in the 2010-11 post-election conflict by helping to unseat Gbagbo and bringing Ouattara to power. Their ties cooled when it became clear that Ouattara didn't consider him as his successor.
“The mock trial we have witnessed today is the ultimate proof that the rule of law is finally buried by Alassane Ouattara,” said Soro on Twitter. His lawyers boycotted the hearing, saying in a statement Sunday the closed hearing was meant to exclude him from the vote.
The African Court on Human and People's Rights Court, based in Tanzania, last week ordered the West African nation to suspend Soro's arrest warrant as well as charges against more than a dozen of Soro's allies.
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