The prosecution of the Abidjan Assize Court on Wednesday June 16 requested life imprisonment against the former Ivorian Prime Minister Guillaume Soro, accused of conspiracy against the government. At the end of a trial which began on May 19, the prosecutor Richard Adou requested life imprisonment
"for endangering national security"
. Guillaume Soro and 19 of his supporters are accused of
"conspiracy"
,
"attempt to attack the authority of the State" as
well as
"dissemination and publication of false news discrediting the institutions and their functioning, having resulted in an attack on the morale of the populations ”
, according to the order for referral to the Abidjan criminal court (equivalent to the assize court).
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Twenty years in prison were required against Souleymane Kamagaté said Soul to Soul, former chief of protocol of Guillaume Soro.
The same requisitions were pronounced against his lawyer and former minister Affoussy Bamba and his communications manager, Toure Moussa, both in exile.
The prosecution also asked for 17 months in prison for
"disturbing public order"
for seven soldiers, the former minister Alain Lobognon considered as his right hand, and Simon Soro, the little brother of Guillaume Soro.
Former leader of the rebellion of the 2000s, Guillaume Soro, 49, who has lived in exile for two years, is tried in absentia, along with five of his supporters.
The defendants have denied all charges.
Read also: Ivory Coast: three leaders for a single presidential chair
After a tense presidential election in October 2020, Côte d'Ivoire has been going through a period of political detente for several months, with discussions between the government and the two main opposition parties, and the release of opponents.
But Guillaume Soro and his supporters remain in the sights of the authorities and seem marginalized.
In April 2020, Guillaume Soro was sentenced to 20 years in prison for concealment of embezzlement of public funds, for having tried to appropriate, according to justice, a residence bought by the State to house him when he was Prime Minister .
This conviction had justified the invalidation of his presidential candidacy, while he was seen as a serious challenger.
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