Belgium agrees to host former Ivory Coast leader Gbagbo

A day after Judges at the International Criminal Court (ICC) in The Hague ordered the conditional release of former Ivory Coast leader Lauren Gbagbo, Belgium has agreed to host him.

Under the new deal, Gbagbo who was granted a conditional release will not be allowed to leave Belgium, pending an appeal.

Reports say the ICC agreed to the release of Gbagbo, 73, (the first former head of state to go on trial at the ICC) and his aide Charles Ble Goude on condition that they live in an a certain country pending an appeal by the prosecution.

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The former Ivory Coast leader has been in ICC custody since the year 2011, while Ble Goude has been held since 2014.

Both Gbagbo and Ble Goude have been tried on four counts of crimes against humanity for murder, rape, persecution and other inhumane acts committed by pro-Gbagbo forces in the aftermath of the disputed 2010 polls in the Ivory Coast.

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