The African Court on Human and Peoples’ Rights has dismissed the appeals of former Ivorian President Laurent Gbagbo and ex-Prime Minister Guillaume Soro, dealing a decisive legal blow to both men’s ambitions of contesting the 2025 presidential election in Côte d’Ivoire.
In rulings issued on Thursday, June 26, the continental court found both applications either unfounded or inadmissible.
The decisions come just four months before Ivorians head to the polls in a crucial vote already clouded by controversy, exclusions, and mounting political tension.
Laurent Gbagbo, who led the country from 2000 to 2011, had petitioned the court over his removal from the electoral roll.
He argued that the Ivorian state had violated his civil and political rights. However, the court concluded that Gbagbo failed to provide sufficient evidence to support his claims.
The ruling effectively endorses the Ivorian judiciary’s decision to uphold a 20-year prison sentence imposed on Gbagbo in absentia, despite his earlier acquittal by the International Criminal Court.
Guillaume Soro, the former rebel leader turned Prime Minister and National Assembly President, also saw his challenge dismissed.
Now in exile, Soro had decried the legal proceedings against him as politically motivated and cited the detention of his allies as evidence of repression.
But the court ruled his application inadmissible, stating he had not exhausted domestic legal avenues before turning to the African Court.
Soro, who had already been sentenced to 20 years in prison in 2020 and then life imprisonment in 2021 for undermining state security, remains barred from the race.
Despite these rulings, their legal weight is largely symbolic.
Ivory coast withdrew from the African Court’s jurisdiction in April 2020, arguing that its rulings interfered with national sovereignty.
As a result, the government no longer recognizes the court’s decisions as binding, severely limiting avenues for legal redress at the continental level.
The exclusion of Gbagbo and Soro adds to a growing list of barred opposition figures.
Both Tidjane Thiam and Charles Blé Goudé have also been sidelined due to legal or administrative rulings.
With the October 25 election fast approaching, the political climate remains fraught, prompting calls for dialogue.
Charles Blé Goudé recently echoed this plea in an interview on France 24. But for now, the electoral race continues without some of its most prominent former contenders.
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