An ex-militia chief in Cote d’Ivoire said on Wednesday at the trial of Simone Gbagbo for crimes against humanity that the former first lady had financed the movement.
She is accused over deadly violence following the 2010-2011 presidential election that her husband Laurent Gbagbo lost, and who is on trial for war crimes at the International Criminal Court in The Hague.
Currently serving a prison term, Moise Metchro Harolde Metch, who was close to the ex-president, headed one of the many militias in the country during Laurent Gbagbo’s time in office from 2000-2001.
Mr Metch told the court that he belonged to the GPP militia, a branch of a movement close to Mr Gbagbo’s regime.
“Simone Gbagbo was the financier of the patriots, including the GPP,” he said, adding that “the GPP was created with the aim of keeping Laurent Gbagbo in power.”
Simone Gbagbo, 67, whose trial began on May 31, has denied any contact with the militia that hunted down supporters of her husband’s rival, current President Alassane Ouattara.
“I was not in contact with any death squads. I don’t like weapons,” said the woman nicknamed Ivory Coast’s “Iron Lady” on June 21, insisting “the fights I conducted were oral.”
The ex-militia chief described in court the actions of his group.
“Our role was to put down the protests by the pro-Ouattara opposition at the time,” he said.
“We had the professional permits to carry weapons. With those weapons we intimidated the supporters of the opposition, sometimes with strong-arm raids in the mosques.”
The decision by ex-president Gbagbo not to recognise Ouattara’s victory in the November 2010 election triggered a crisis which cost the lives of more than 3,000 people over five months.
The violence ended only after troops stormed the bunker where the Gbagbo couple had holed up.
The former first lady has rejected allegations she was involved in a decision to shell a pro-Ouattara Abidjan neighbourhood and helped plan attacks by Gbagbo supporters on his detractors.
This is Simone Gbagbo’s second trial in Cote d’Ivoire where she is already serving a 20-year sentence for “harming state security”.
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