Abidjan – Two leading members of the opposition party of Ivory Coast’s ex-president Laurent Gbagbo were arrested Tuesday and charged with “inciting insurrection”, less than a month before presidential polls, their party and a lawyer said.
Political tensions are high ahead of the October 25 election, especially after the courts prevented opposition leaders, including Gbagbo, from running to prevent President Alassane Ouattara winning a fourth term.
Blaise Lasm and Nestor Dahi, both deputy secretary generals of Gbagbo’s African Peoples’ Party — Ivory Coast (PPA-CI), were arrested and charged, their lawyer Roselyne Serikpa and the party’s executive president Sebastien Dano Djedje told AFP.
They are also accused of endangering state security, disturbing public order and failure to comply with a decision of the Constitutional Council, Serikpa said.
In a statement later Tuesday, PPA-CI said it “vigorously denounces this latest attack on individual freedoms and the right to political expression”.
It said the two had been transferred to a prison in Abidjan.
Justice : Blaise Lasm et Dahi Nestor placés sous Mandat de dépôt et transférés au PPA ( Me Roseline Serikpa)
Ils sont poursuivis pour appel à l’insurrection, trouble à l’ordre public et inobservation d’une décision du conseil constitutionnel .
( Aminata 24) pic.twitter.com/wc62cJpLUv
— PROM’IVOIRE 🇨🇮 (@Prom_Ivoire) September 30, 2025
Government spokesman Amadou Coulibaly warned in mid-September that opposition figures contesting the court’s rulings “will feel the force of the law”.
Gbagbo’s party has accused the authorities of abducting or arresting dozens of its members since August 1, with the government denying any claims of kidnappings or forced disappearances.
Eleven members of Gbagbo’s party were arrested on accusations of “terrorist” acts over unrest in August, when a bus was torched in the Yopougon suburb of Abidjan.
Though the government says the judiciary acted of its own accord, the opposition has repeatedly questioned the independence of the Ivorian courts.
Besides Gbagbo, other critics of Ouattara are barred from running by the courts, including Tidjane Thiam, who heads Ivory Coast’s largest opposition party.
The parties of both leaders have called for a march on Saturday in the economic capital Abidjan “for democracy, justice and peace”.
Ouattara, 83, will face off against former ministers Jean-Louis Billon and Ahoua Don Mello, as well as former first lady Simone Ehivet Gbagbo and Henriette Lagou, who previously ran for president in 2015.
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Source: AFP
