Ivory Coast's ex-first lady Simone Gbagbo acquitted of crimes against humanity Tuesday March 28,2017

An Ivory Coast jury on Tuesday March 28,2017 acquitted former first lady Simone Gbagbo of crimes against humanity during the 2010-11 post-election crisis in a stunning verdict after the prosecution had sought to jail her for life.

"A majority of the jury declared Simone Gbagbo not guilty of the crimes of which she has been accused, pronounced her acquittal and ordered that she be immediately freed if she is not being held for other reasons, " said the head of the country's top criminal court, judge Kouadjo Boiqui.

Once dubbed Ivory Coast's"Iron Lady," Gbagbo, who was not in court Tuesday, is already serving a 20-year sentence for "endangering state security."

The prosecution in summing up its case against the 67-year-old wife of ex-president Laurent Gbagbo on Tuesday March 28,2017 had called on the jury to find her "guilty of crimes against humanity and war crimes and sentence her to life imprisonment," said prosecutor Aly Yeo.
He described her as a shadowy figure who orchestrated attacks on her husband's opponents.
"After her spouse came to power, she started to impose herself as the real head of Ivory Coast, the army, the police and gendarmerie," Yeo said.
Laurent Gbagbo is on trial for crimes against humanity, including murder, rape and persecution, having been handed over in November 2011 to the International Criminal Court (ICC) in The Hague