International News

ABIDJAN, Oct 25 (APP/AFP): The lawyers of Ivory Coast’s former first lady Simone Gbagbo on Monday suspended their participation in her trial for crimes against humanity because the court refused to hear testimony from leading politicians. Monday was supposed to be the first day of witnesses called by the defence, with Gbagbo’s lawyers calling figures including parliament speaker Guillaume Soro, former premier Jeannot Kouadio Ahoussou and former army chief Philippe Mangou. “We are suspending our participation until further notice. The process is biased, the court does not want a fair trial,” said Dohora Blede, one of the lawyers defending Gbagbo over post-election violence that left more than 3,000 dead in 2010-11. “We noticed that our witnesses were not present — we have asked for a delay of four days to see these people, who are indispensable for demonstrating the truth.”