[JURIST] The appeals chamber of the International Criminal Court (ICC) [official website] on Tuesday dismissed [judgment, PDF] the application for interim release by former Ivory Coast president Laurent Gbagbo [BBC profile]. The pre-trial chamber has kept Gbagbo in detention since December 2011, despite his numerous applications for release [text, PDF]. The ICC had dismissed his prior appeals, and “where no changed circumstances are found to exist, the chamber is not required to further review the ruling on release or detention.” The appeals chamber found that circumstances had not changed since the last dismissal, and therefore, the court was not required to re-examine each item of evidence in its determination of retention.

The ICC issued a warrant for Gbagbo’s arrest on charges of crimes against humanity [JURIST report] including murder, rape and persecution, in November 2011. In November 2010 Gbagbo ran for President of the Ivory Coast against former prime minister Alassane Ouattara [BBC profile]. The EU recognized that Ouattara defeated Gbagbo, but Gbagbo refused to concede victory. Gbagbo has been accused [JURIST report] of starting a civil war after losing the presidency, which resulted in 3,000 deaths and 1 million people displaced.