Opening of the trial in the Laurent Gbagbo and Charles Blé Goudé case on 28 January 2016: Practical information

Situation: Côte d'Ivoire
Case: The Prosecutor v. Laurent Gbagbo and Charles Blé Goudé

The trial in the case of The Prosecutor v. Laurent Gbagbo and Charles Blé Goudé is scheduled to open on Thursday, 28 January 2016, at 09:30 (The Hague local time), before Trial Chamber I of the International Criminal Court, composed of presiding Judge Cuno Tarfusser (Italy), Judge Olga Herrera Carbuccia (Dominican Republic) and Judge Geoffrey Henderson (Trinidad and Tobago).

The trial will open with the reading of the charges against the two accused. The Judges will verify that the accused persons understood the nature of the charges. Mr Gbagbo and Mr Blé Goudé will be asked whether they plead guilty or not guilty to the charges. Oral opening statements will be delivered by the Office of the Prosecutor, the Defence teams, as well as the Legal Representatives of Victims, before the Prosecution starts its presentation of evidence.

Background: Laurent Gbagbo, former President of Côte d'Ivoire, was surrendered to the ICC on 30 November 2011 and he first appeared before the Pre-Trial Chamber on 5 December 2011. On 12 June 2014, Pre-Trial Chamber I confirmed, by majority, four charges of crimes against humanity (murder, rape, other inhumane acts or – in the alternative – attempted murder, and persecution) against Mr Gbagbo and committed him for trial before a Trial Chamber.

Charles Blé Goudé, born on 1 January 1972 in Niagbrahio, Côte d'Ivoire, was surrendered on 22 March 2014 to the ICC by the national authorities of Côte d´Ivoire following a warrant of arrest issued by the ICC on 21 December 2011. On 11 December 2014, Pre-Trial Chamber I confirmed four charges of crimes against humanity (murder, rape, other inhumane acts or – in the alternative – attempted murder, and persecution) against Mr Blé Goudé and committed him to trial before a Trial Chamber.

For more information on this case, click here

Webstreaming of the hearing

The proceedings can be followed with a 30-minute delay on the ICC website at: http://video.icc.globecomm.net/

Attending the hearing

• Members of the diplomatic corps, NGOs and other members of the public wishing to attend the hearing are kindly invited to request attendance via email to: [email protected]. Attendees must present a valid passport or valid ID with a photo at the main entrance of the Court (at: Oude Waalsdorperweg 10, 2597 AK The Hague).

• Journalists wishing to cover the hearing are kindly invited to request attendance via email to: [email protected]. All journalists must present a valid press card, and a valid passport or valid ID with a photo, at the main entrance of the Court (at: Oude Waalsdorperweg 10, 2597 AK The Hague).

Please note that individuals who do not confirm their attendance in advance cannot be guaranteed access to the hearing. In order to avoid delays in accessing the building, those attending are advised to arrive at least one hour before the hearing starts.

ICC Media Centre

For media representatives wishing to use the Court's media facilities during the confirmation of charges hearing, the Media Centre will open at 08:30.

The ICC Media Centre is located in the building's 'Court Tower'. It is composed of hot desk areas, which can sit up to 104 people, and two interview rooms.

The Media Centre distributes the video and embedded audio of the hearing, via HD-SDI with a female BNC connection. Journalists wishing to connect to this should bring compatible equipment and a BNC cable. Power is provided (European plug).

Wi-Fi connection is available in the Media Centre.

AV materials

Filming or photography is strictly prohibited inside the Court building, apart from the interview rooms in the Media Centre. However, pictures of the hearing will be posted on the Court's Flickr account.

The public sessions of the opening statements, as well as audio-visual programmes summarising the proceedings, will be available for download on an FTP server in video (MPEG-4) and audio (MPEG-3) format, and for viewing on the official ICC YouTube Channel. For information on audio-visual matters, please contact Violeta Willemsen-Curcic, Head of Audio-Visual Production Unit: [email protected]

Parking facilities

Media representatives can use the ICC's Visitor Parking.

SNG vehicles

The ICC Parking includes an area for SNG vehicles. BNC connections are available and the video format is HD-SDI with embedded Audio (8 dual mono pairs): Channel 1 – Floor language (international audio); Channel 2 - English interpretation; Channel 3 - French interpretation; Channel 4 - 8 - Other languages, or if no interpretation then Floor language will be sent.

For further information, please contact Fadi El Abdallah, Spokesperson and Head of Public Affairs Unit, International Criminal Court, by telephone at: +31 (0)70 515-9152 or +31 (0)6 46448938 or by e-mail at: [email protected].

You can also follow the Court's activities on YouTube and Twitter.