Authorities in Ivory Coast have arrested Damana Pickass, a top aide to opposition leader Laurent Gbagbo, accusing him of urging unrest ahead of the country’s recent presidential election, according to a statement released by Prosecutor Oumar Braman Kone on Wednesday.

Pickass, who serves as chief coordinator of the Common Front, a coalition bringing together Gbagbo’s party and that of former Credit Suisse CEO Tidjane Thiam, was taken into custody near Abidjan on Tuesday, the prosecutor confirmed.

Kone said that opposition figures, including Pickass, had "called for a popular uprising and the overthrow of the Republic’s institutions," and that these calls "resulted in acts of violence that threatened national security."

In an official communiqué issued by the Prosecutor’s Office on November 4, authorities alleged that these calls for insurrection led to the formation of armed and unarmed groups across the country, resulting in "acts of violence affecting national security, assassinations, armed robberies, extortion, arson, destruction of public and private property, and obstruction of the vote." The statement further warned that all perpetrators, accomplices, and sponsors, "whatever their status", would be pursued and tried under Ivorian law.

Lorsqu'il s’agit des opposants, le procureur est prompt à réagir. Mais pour le reste il faut attendre Mathusalem… pic.twitter.com/NSosoMRyHu

— Koné katina Edmond (@konkatina_kone) November 5, 2025

The Common Front had organized several demonstrations in the lead-up to the October 25 presidential election, protesting the exclusion of both Gbagbo and Thiam from the ballot. Despite a government ban on rallies by parties boycotting the vote, the group pressed forward with its plans and has announced another protest for Saturday.

Election unrest

President Alassane Ouattara, 83, secured a fourth term in the polls, which the opposition dismissed as illegitimate. While authorities described the election as largely peaceful, sporadic violence erupted in some areas. Official figures reported 11 deaths, though opposition sources claimed 27.

In the aftermath, more than 100 demonstrators have reportedly been sentenced to three years in prison for their participation in the banned protests, their lawyers said.

Earlier in February 2025, Ivorian courts had sentenced Pickass and Koua Justin, both senior officials of Gbagbo’s PPA-CI party, to ten years in prison for public disorder and incitement to insurrection linked to the 2020 pre-election unrest. The PPA-CI denounced the ruling as a politically motivated attempt to weaken the opposition ahead of the 2025 vote. Party Secretary General Tchéïdé Gervais described the sentences as "tailored decisions aimed at suppressing Gbagbo’s allies," while government prosecutors maintained that the timing of the trial was unrelated to electoral considerations.

Read more: Ouattara secures fourth term amid opposition boycott, low turnout