The political party of Ivory Coast's former president Laurent Gbagbo on Wednesday alleged "illegal and arbitrary arrests" by his successor's government following a party official and former minister's arrest.
Jean Gervais Tcheide, secretary general of the African People's Party-Cote d'Ivoire (PPA-CI), accused the party of President Alassane Ouattara of seeking to "silence any political opposition through brutal repression and terror" a year out from the 2025 presidential election.
Alleging "dictatorial" tendencies under Ouattara, Tcheide told a press conference that ex-minister Charles Rodel Dosso was the victim of a "kidnapping" from his home "in front of his wife and children by a group of hooded men".
Dosso's lawyer Huyo Kano Ble confirmed the arrest by telephone to AFP, saying it was "related to the march of September 13" in protest at the high cost of living in Abidjan.
Despite a ban, several dozen people gathered for the protest in Ivory Coast's largest city, with around 30 demonstrators arrested during the march and in the following days.
Kano Ble said that Dosso, who served as minister under Gbagbo, was accused of "disturbing public order" among other charges and was being remanded in custody at a penitentiary centre in Abidjan "for the duration of the investigation".
Gbagbo and Ouattara have been political rivals since even before a 2010 election in which Gbagbo refused to concede defeat, crying fraud after the Independent Election Commission ruled his successor the winner.
However Gbagbo is ineligible to run against the former International Monetary Fund official in 2025 due to a judicial conviction.
Gbagbo, the West African nation's president from 2000 to 2011, was the first former head of state to face trial for crimes against humanity at the International Criminal Court in The Hague, where he was acquitted in 2019.
The 79-year-old was handed a 20-year jail sentence by an Ivorian court in 2018 for his role in the looting of a bank.
Though Gbagbo was pardoned -- by Ouattara -- in 2022 he still cannot run for public office.