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Report
Ivorians to sue France after French soliders opened fire on protesters in 2004
FRANCE 24 English
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11/12/2024
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News
Transcript
Display full video transcript
00:00
No official commemoration for the anniversary.
00:03
Only a few members of a collective for victims
00:05
gathered to lay a wreath and pray in front of Hôtel Ivoire,
00:09
where protesters were killed.
00:10
20 years on, they want to relaunch legal proceedings.
00:16
We're bringing a complaint against France
00:17
for crimes against humanity.
00:19
We tried to favour the diplomatic routes,
00:22
but unfortunately we've achieved nothing
00:24
and the time has come for us to take responsibility
00:27
and lead the battle for our compensation.
00:31
On the 9th of November 2004,
00:33
tensions reached a boiling point in Abidjan.
00:36
French soldiers were stationed in front of the Hôtel Ivoire
00:39
with armed vehicles to protect the 200 French nationals
00:42
who were staying inside.
00:43
Facing them, thousands of demonstrators refused to leave,
00:46
convinced that France wanted to overthrow
00:48
President Laurent Gbagbo,
00:50
whose residence was only a few hundred metres away.
00:52
After a standoff that lasted hours,
00:54
soldiers fired into the crowd.
00:56
French authorities acknowledged that there were casualties,
00:59
but haven't disclosed figures.
01:00
The victims' collective estimates 57 Ivoirians lost their lives
01:04
and more than 1,000 were injured that day.
01:07
Claude Soudur was shot, leading him to contract gangrene
01:10
and his leg was amputated.
01:13
We could hear, lie down,
01:16
and that's when I was shot from the top of the Hôtel Ivoire.
01:21
I came to defend the cause of my country
01:24
and today, I find myself with one leg.
01:28
Every night, I feel pain.
01:30
Every night, I relive that situation.
01:34
Initially calling it return fire,
01:36
Paris eventually admitted that it was dissuasion fire,
01:39
citing that the military forces securing the Hôtel Ivoire
01:42
had been overwhelmed by the crowd.
01:43
It was the result of four days of escalations.
01:46
On the 6th of November,
01:47
two Ivoirian aircraft bombed the French military base at Bouaké,
01:51
killing nine French soldiers.
01:53
Paris retaliated within the hour,
01:55
destroying the entire Ivoirian air fleet.
01:58
Anger swept through the streets of Abidjan
02:00
and some French expats were attacked.
02:02
Their evacuation was organised as a matter of urgency.
02:05
Neither Paris nor Abidjan has made any statement
02:08
commemorating the anniversary of this tragedy.
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