Laurent Gbagbo: Ivorian ex-leader barred from elections

Ivory Coast former president Laurent Gbagbo has been barred from running for the presidency in upcoming elections.

This comes after a court upheld the electoral commission’s decision to remove him from the electoral list.

The country’s electoral commission struck him off the list of candidates because he was convicted of a crime.

Four candidates including former rebel leader Guillaume Soro were also removed from the list.

In August, the president of the electoral commission, Ibrahime Coulibaly-Kuibiert, had said that anyone convicted of a crime would not be allowed to stand.

Mr Gbagbo was sentenced in absentia in November 2019 for the looting of the central bank of West African states, following a disputed 2010 election that resulted in violence.