Former Ivory Coast President Laurent Gbagbo files for divorce

Former Ivorian President Laurent Gbagbo has filed for divorce from his estranged wife Simone Gbagbo.

Mr. Gbagbo filed his application on Monday with a matrimonial court judge of the Court of First Instance of Abidjan, a statement from his lawyer revealed.

The brief statement issued by the former president’s long-time lawyer, Claude Mentenon, said Gbagbo took the decision to go to court as a last resort, after Simone’s “repeated refusal” to consent to his request for a mutually agreed separation agreement.

Gbagbo’s application comes three days after he returned to the country following his acquittal and after nearly a decade since he was transferred to The Hague in The Netherlands where he went on trial for war crimes in relation to the 2010 post-election violence that led to the deaths of over 3,000 people.

The former President returned to Abidjan on June 17.

Gbagbo was indicted alongside Simone and a former youth minister, Charles Ble Goude.