[JURIST] The confirmation of charges hearing against Charles Ble Goude [ICC backgrounder] opened [press release] Monday before Pre-Trial Chamber I of the International Criminal Court (ICC) [official website]. Ble Goude, a youth leader loyal to Ivory Coast’s former president Laurent Gbagbo [BBC profile], is accused of crimes against humanity, including “murder, rape and other forms of sexual violence, persecution, and other inhuman acts” stemming from post-electoral violence in the Ivory Coast between December 2010 and April 2011. The hearing, which is set to go through October 2 is not a trial, but “held to determine whether there is sufficient evidence to establish substantial grounds to believe that the person committed each of the crimes charged.” If the three-judge panel comprising Pre-Trial Chamber I confirm charges against Ble Goude, the case will be transferred to the ICC Trial Chamber.

Ble Goude is the third individual [Reuters report] after Gbagbo and Gbagbo’s wife Simone, to be indicted by the ICC for actions surrounding the post-election civil war triggered by Gbagbo’s refusal to step down after losing the presidential election in 2010. Earlier this month Pre-Trial Chamber I of the ICC postponed [JURIST report] the commencement of the confirmation of charges hearing in the case against Ble Goude at the defense’s request to complete its preparation. In March Ble Goude made his first appearance before the ICC after being surrendered [JURIST report] by the national authorities of the Ivory Coast. In June judges at the ICC gave prosecutors until November 15 [JURIST report] to develop their evidence against Laurent Gbagbo. Gbagbo is the first former head of state to come before the court. In April Laurent Gbagbo appeared before the ICC [JURIST report] to determine whether the case against him will proceed to trial. Gbagbo’s lawyers urged the court to rule that the ICC does not have jurisdiction and that Laurent Gbagbo should be tried by the Ivory Coast authorities currently conducting their own investigation.