14/01/2015 (Agence Europe) - General court lifts sanctions on Marcel Gossio. In a ruling on Wednesday 14 January (case T-406/13), the General Court of the EU annulled the continued inclusion of Marcel Gossio, a close associate of former Ivoirian president Laurent Gbagbo and former director general of the port of Abidjan, on the EU's list of persons on whom restrictive measures are imposed (ban on entering the EU and asset freeze). The Court ruled that, since his return to Côte d'Ivoire after a three-year exile in Morocco, which granted him UNHCR refugee status, Gossio no longer represents a threat to the stability and security of the country as he has spoken publicly in favour of the peace and national reconciliation process. The Council did not take account of this fact or that the Swiss authorities had lifted the restrictive measures they had imposed on Gossio. (JK)