BY LOU SIFA

(Reporting by Awa Fofana)

The sentencing, Monday, of former Ivorian prime minister Guillaume Soro to 20 years in prison, has unleashed diverse reactions in the country’s media and comments by several political obeservers.

Gouza Nahounou, a political analyst and activist who hosts a regularly-scheduled show on Facebook that is watched and liked by thousands of viewers, did not mince her words when reacting to the verdict of the Abidjan Tribunal. In an interview with The African, the well-known Paris-based Ivorian analyst of her country’s politics blasted Soro saying:

“The opening of the Soro trial is a powerful message by the Ivorian justice. From now on, the bandits of the Republic, whomever they may be, will be hunted down and sentenced with utmost severity, whether they are politicians, former heads of state, or former heads of institutions. No one is above the law. It is no longer acceptable to leave high-way bandits in liberty.”

It’s only the beginning, she stressed, adding:

“We know all too well who Guillaume Soro is. A rebel leader accused of crimes against the masses in reports issued by various international non-government organizations.”

That is why, Nahounou noted,

“I ask the Ivorian justice to go much further to do justice to all the victims of Guillaume Soro, from the North to the West, including the South.”

She has no doubt the Ivorian justice system can do this:

“Our country’s justice system has the competence to prosecute war criminals like Guillaune Soro. It demonstrated that with the prosecution former first lady Simone Gbagbo.”

Nahounou concluded:

“I have faith in my country’s justice. I have faith in my country.”

Not unlike the media in most other African countries, the local newspapers’ reporting is usually partisan. That is clear in their reports about the former prime minister’s sentence.

Notrevoie, close to former President Laurent Gbagbo—therefore a staunch critic of the Ouattara administration—dubbed the trial “highly political.” In another edition, this newspaper writes that Ouattara is “under strong pressure,” in reference to the unanimous ruling, last week, by the African Court on Human and People’s Rights (ACHPR) based in Arusha, Tanzania ordering the Ivorian government to suspend its arrest warrant for Soro, and the release of his political allies and relatives who have been imprisoned for four months, since the warrant was issued.

In a violent tone, and after listing the politicians who have been hit with heavy sentences, Le Quotidien d’Abidjan, clearly hostile to the Ouattara administration, published on its front front page an article titled “After you finish destroying, you will be destroyed.” A clear sign of the freedom of speech in the country.

Striking a different note, L’Essor, clearly close to the ruling party, wrote in bold letters on its cover: “Twenty-year prison sentence for Soro,” followed by the sub-title: “The ‘little fat man’ caught up by his crimes.”