ECOWAS Court orders Ivorian govt to release citizen detained since 2018

The ECOWAS Court of Justice has ordered the Government of Cote d’Ivoire to immediately release its citizen, Kodjo Claude, who had been in pre-trial detention since June 2018.

The court handed down the judgment after finding the government guilty of violation of his rights to liberty and presumption of innocence until proven guilty by a court of competent jurisdiction.

Delivering the judgment, the Judge Rapporteur, Dupe Atoki, said that detaining Mr Claude beyond 18 months was in violation of its obligations under the African Charter on Human and…