Friday, March 10, the day after the two-year prison sentence against 26 PPA-CI activists for “disturbing public order”, the party of former President Laurent Gbagbo denounced ” unfair, arbitrary and politically oriented convictions “. He demands the immediate release of its militants who had participated in a rally in support of Damana Pickass, the secretary general of the PPA-CI, who was heard and then charged by the courts in another case.
With our correspondent in Abidjan, Francois Hume-Ferkatadji
Conviction of activists for “disturbing public order” constitutes a ” act of provocation according to Justin Koné Katinan, spokesperson for the PPA-CI (Party of African Peoples-Côte d’Ivoire):
” For us, these condemnations can be summed up in three words: scandalous, iniquitous, unacceptable. We must respond to these provocations. But it is certain that we will not agree to sell off the democratic gains that we obtained in pain, in sorrow for our country in the 1990s. We cannot accept that. »
The NGO Amnesty International, for its part, denounced an obstacle to the ” right to peaceful assembly and demonstration “.
The party of former President Laurent Gbagbo announces that the authorities of the party will meet ” as soon as possible “. Activists are asked to stay listening to party slogans “. For political scientist Geoffroy-Julien Kouao, the ” judicialization of political life gives an image of rejection of democracy:
” These condemnations will certainly create a wall of mistrust between the opposition and those in power. Anything that is likely to seize up the process of national reconciliation, a few months before the elections. »
Last month, the three leaders of the country’s three largest political parties, Alassane Ouattara, Laurent Gbagbo and Henri Konan Bédié met in Yamoussoukro to praise the process of national reconciliation.