AMSTERDAM, June 12 (Reuters) - Former Ivory Coast President Laurent Gbagbo is to go on trial at the International Criminal Court, judges said on Thursday after deciding prosecutors had submitted enough evidence to justify pursuing the case.
Gbagbo, who is accused of plunging his country into a civil war rather than relinquish his grip on power after losing the presidential election in 2010, faces charges of murder, rape, attempted murder and persecution.
Gbagbo has been in custody since 2011, when his political rival, Ivory Coast President Alassane Outtara, handed him over to the Hague-based court. Gbagbo could face a maximum prison term of life imprisonment if convicted. (Reporting by Thomas Escritt; Editing by Alison Williams)
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