Michel Gbagbo, the son of Ivory Coast’s former president Laurent Gbagbo, has been sentenced to six months in jail and ordered to pay a fine of $950 (£668) for “complicity in disclosing false news”, his lawyer said.
It relates to comments Mr Gbagbo made to a news website in May 2016. At the time he claimed “250 people are still in prison” following the country’s political crisis in 2010-11 when his father refused to step down from power and concede defeat by his rival, Alassane Ouattara.
Michel Gbagbo also said at the time that 300 other people “charged and placed under arrest since 2011” were missing.
But these claims were today ruled false by the criminal court in Abidjan, his lawyer Rodrigue Dadje confirmed.
Laurent Despas, the French director of the Koaci.com website which published the interview, was fined $18,950 (£13,339) for spreading false news, the lawyer added.
Michel Gbagbo’s lawyer has said he will appeal against the sentences.
Laurent Gbagbo is on trial at the International Criminal Court in The Hague, accused of crimes against humanity allegedly committed during the 2010-11 political crisis.
Source: BBC
