Brussels, 08/06/2011 (Agence Europe) - In a ruling delivered on Wednesday 8 June in Case T-86/11, the General Court of the EU overturned a Council decision and regulation freezing the funds of Nadiany Bamba, an Ivoirian national and second wife and one of the closest collaborators of former President of Côte d'Ivoire Laurent Gbagbo. The Council, the Court said, “did not provide a sufficient statement of reasons as to how Nadiany Bamba obstructs the process of peace and reconciliation in Côte d'Ivoire”. However, the annulment will only take effect only after the expiry of the time limit for bringing an appeal before the Court of Justice. This will allow the Council time to adopt further restrictive measure against Bamba, if necessary.
Following the presidential election in Côte d'Ivoire in autumn 2010, which brought Gbagbo's opponent Alassane Ouattara to power, and the civil war which then ensued, Bamba was, in January 2011, included on the list of persons who “obstruct the process of peace and national reconciliation” in the country and, by this fact, became subject to EU sanctions (including the freezing of funds). With regard to Bamba, the decision and regulation preceding her listing stated: “Director of the Cyclone group which publishes the newspaper 'Le Temps': Obstruction of the peace and reconciliation processes through public incitement to hatred and violence and through participation in disinformation campaigns in connection with the 2010 presidential election.”
In a somewhat rare move, at Bamba's request, the Court decided to deal with the dispute under the expedited procedure, which enabled it to deliver its judgment in less than four months from the application being lodged, whilst also taking its decision within an extended composition of five judges. It said that, rather than merely setting out “vague and general considerations”, the Council ought to have provided Bamba with “actual and specific reasons” that led them to the view that she should be subject to the measures at issue. In particular, the indication that Bamba is Director of the Cyclone group which publishes the newspaper Le Temps does not make it possible to understand in what way she “obstructed the peace and reconciliation processes through public incitement to hatred and violence and through participation in disinformation campaigns in connection with the 2010 presidential election”.
The General Court found that the statement of reasons for the contested measures is not such as to enable Bamba to contest its invalidity before the Court or to enable the Court to review the merits of the measures. It therefore annulled the contested measures, to the extent that they relate to Bamba. The Court stated, however, that its decisions take effect only after the expiry of the time limit for bringing an appeal before the Court of Justice, that is to say, two months and ten days from notification of the judgment or, if an appeal has been brought, after it is dismissed. (F.G./transl.rt)