ABIDJAN, Ivory Coast: Ivorian President Alsace Ouattara on Thursday pardoned 51 civilian and military prisoners, including generals involved in post-election violence.
President Alsace Ouattara told the National Security Council (CNS) of the decision against the men convicted of crimes “during the post-election crisis and against national security,” the council said in a statement.
Among those pardoned is Bruno Dagbo, a supporter of former president Laurent Gbagbo, who was jailed for 18 years in 2011 for the kidnapping, torture and murder of two French nationals, a Malaysian national and a Beninese national.
The statement said the pardon was part of the president’s “commitment to a determined effort to consolidate peace.”
Ouattara won the 2010 election against Gbagbo, who was eventually ousted after a brutal post-election clash.
