Six jailed Ivory Coast opposition party officials freed after months in detention

A lawyer for six local opposition party officials jailed last year said they were freed on Monday following a hearing of the anti-terrorism chamber in Abidjan.

“[The] PDCI activists ... have been released after nine months in detention and are finally returning home," lawyer Ange Rodrigue Dadje wrote on Facebook.

He declined to say on what grounds they had been freed.

In May, two other local officials from the PDCI (Democratic Party of Ivory Coast), were also released.

The eight, all party members in Abidjan, were arrested between late September and early October 2025, in the run-up to the presidential vote.

Two prominent opposition figures - Democratic Party of Ivory Coast (PDCI) leader Tidjane Thiam and former president Laurent Gbagbo - were barred by court rulings from standing in the ballot.

Several dozen activists and senior politicians from various opposition parties were arrested or jailed around the time of the election that was marked by protests and a harsh crackdown by the authorities.

Incumbent President Alassane Ouattara secured a fourth term in office in the poll, winning nearly 90 per cent of the vote.

Hundreds of civilians accused of attending banned protests during the election campaign were convicted and about 10 people died.

Ouattara’s government denied the arrests were politically motivated.