For the reasonable trial observer, the question was not whether Gbagbo and Blé Goudé ought to be acquitted. The question really was one of judicial courage and judicial independence, which were on full display when on 15 January 2019, Trial Chamber I, by 2-1, Judge Geoffrey Henderson, and Judge Cuno Tarfusser (Presiding), forming the majority, proclaimed that the prosecution had failed to substantiate its various claims against the two men. Therefore, Gbagbo and Blé Goudé had no case to answer. They were acquitted and their release was ordered. The prosecution tried but failed to convince the Trial Chamber that there are exceptional reasons why the acquitted persons should remain behind bars pending appeal. Rather, the Trial Chamber found that the prosecution’s case was ‘exceptionally weak,’ and not likely to succeed on appeal. The prosecution then filed an application with the Appeals Chamber.
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