Source: myafricanmagazine.com /   Guillaume Kigbafori Soro, former head of the rebellion in West African nation Ivory Coast, and Prime Minister

By Gary Raynaldo     DIPLOMATIC TIMES

Ivory Coast Public Prosecutor Adou Richard  announced Tuesday that 19 people including 14 soldiers were arrested for plotting a coup, an alleged crime for which presidential hopeful Guillaume Soro is also wanted, according to the prosecutor.  The arrests come one week after an Ivory Coast court sentenced Soro  to 20 years in jail on charges of embezzlement and money laundering.   

“Of the 19 people arrested, 15 were charged and placed under arrest warrant on Friday, April 17, 2020. And among the 14 soldiers, there are two senior officers and 12 non-commissioned officers,”

-said Adou Richard, quoted by the Government Information and Communication Center – CICG.

Of the 17 vehicles seized from the homes and residences of the accused, as well as in various other places, four were used to transport weapons and ammunition initially stored at the headquarters of the Generations and Peoples in Solidarity movement located at Cocody Riviera-Golf, according to a report by afriquesur7.fr.   The public prosecutor announced that these vehicles transported these weapons towards the seaside town of Assinie in order to immerse them precipitately in the lagoon. And this, in anticipation of possible searches. These four vehicles belong to the named Souleymane Zébré on the run.

Soro Claims He Is Victim Of Political Vendetta 

Soro was tried in absentia as he currently lives in Paris.   Soro  has steadfastly denied all of the  charges against him, saying the are “trumped up”  designed to keep him from participating in the country’s scheduled presidential elections in November  2020.  Soro has been  living in political exile in France  after the Republic of Ivory Coast issued an arrest warrant last December  for  Soro for  involvement in an alleged coup plot.  Soro vowed to organize active political resistance to President Ouattara.

African Court of Justice Orders Suspension of Arrest Warrant against  Soro

Meanwhile, The African Court on Human and Peoples’ Rights (ACHPR)  ordered Côte d’Ivoire to suspend its arrest warrant for Guillaume Soro a week before the Republic of Ivory Coast sentenced the former prime minister to 20 years in jail for alleged corruption.  Some say the timing of the court in Ivory Coast  handing down a 20-year prison term against Soro seems suspicious or a vendetta after the  ACHPR ordering the government of the west Africa nation to cancel the arrest warrant.  It gets even murkier.  Ivory Coast withdrew from the ACHPR  following an order from that court to suspend the arrest warrant against presidential hopeful Soro.   The Republic of Ivory Coast issued an arrest warrant last December 2019  for Guillaume Soro,  who was a candidate in the country’s 2020 presidential election for involvement in an alleged coup plot against the nation.    The ACHPR  court ordered the Ivory Coast to suspend the warrant temporarily while it considered arguments that Soro’s rights had been violated. After the trial proceeded, the court reissued the suspension order, including several of Soro’s allies who had also been convicted. The Ivory Coast has 30 days to officially report their compliance with the order to the court. Given their withdrawal from the court, it is highly unlikely that they will do so, according  to political observers.  Critics of the withdrawal  accused the Ivory Coast government of attempting to silence their opponents.