Gbagbo founded the Ivorian Popular Front (FPI) in 1982 and ran unsuccessfully for president against Félix Houphouët-Boigny at the start of multi-party politics in 1990.

Gbagbo claimed victory after Robert Guéï, head of a military junta, barred other leading politicians from running in the October 2000 presidential election.

[4][5] The Independent Electoral Commission (IEC) announced that Ouattara had won the race with 54% of the vote, a tally that the United Nations concluded was credible; however, the Constitutional Council, a body dominated by pro-Gbagbo members, annulled the results in Ouattara's electoral strongholds in the north, claiming fraud, and declared Gbagbo the winner with 51% of the vote.

[8] Gbagbo was extradited to The Hague in November 2011, where he was charged with four counts of crimes against humanity in the International Criminal Court (ICC) in connection with the post-election violence.

In January 2019, an ICC panel dismissed the charges against Gbagbo and one of his former ministers, Charles Blé Goudé, determining that the evidence presented was insufficient to prove that the pair committed crimes against humanity.

[10] The ICC ultimately upheld Gbagbo's acquittal, and in April 2021, Ouattara stated he and Blé Goudé were free to return to the country.

[3] Gbagbo said in July 2008 that he had received crucial support from Blaise Compaoré, formerly the President of Burkina Faso, while he was part of the underground opposition to Houphouët-Boigny.

Guéï refused to allow his predecessor as president, Henri Konan Bédié, or former prime minister Alassane Ouattara to run, leaving Gbagbo as the only significant opposition candidate.

In March 2003, a new cross-party agreement was made for the formation of a new government led by a consensus figure, Seydou Diarra, and including nine ministers from the rebels, and one year later, UN peacekeeping forces arrived in the country.

[22] The peace agreement effectively collapsed in early November 2004 following elections that critics claimed were undemocratic and the rebels' subsequent refusal to disarm.

[24][25] With the late October deadline approaching in 2006, it was regarded as very unlikely that the election would in fact be held by that point, and the opposition and the rebels rejected the possibility of another term extension for Gbagbo.

[26] The UN Security Council endorsed another one-year extension of Gbagbo's term on 1 November 2006; to not forget, many of the rebels held their guns and were prepared to advance again, however, the resolution provided for the strengthening of Prime Minister Charles Konan Banny's powers.

[33] In the first round, Gbagbo faced 14 challengers; the two main ones were Henri Konan Bédié, who had been deposed in a coup eleven years earlier, and Alassane Ouattara, a former prime minister and IMF official.

[35] Gbagbo's party complained of fraud and ordered that votes from nine regions occupied by the ex-rebels "became FN after the Ouagadougou agreement" be annulled, but the claims were disputed by the Ivorian Electoral Commission and international election observers.

"[39] On 4 December 2010, one day after military leadership pledged their continuing loyalty to him, Gbagbo again took the oath of office in a ceremony broadcast on state television.

[40] Gbagbo responded by launching ethnic attacks on northerners living in Abidjan with his army made up partly of Liberian mercenaries,[41][42] and rumours (unconfirmed because of restrictions on the movement of peacekeeping forces) of pro-Gbagbo death squads and mass graves have been reported to representatives of the UN.

[51] According to Ouattara, his forces established a security perimeter at the residence, where Gbagbo had sought refuge in a subterranean level, and were waiting for him to run out of food and water.

[60] U.S. President Barack Obama welcomed news of the developments and CNN quoted U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton as saying that Gbagbo's capture "sends a strong signal to dictators and tyrants.

[61] In October 2011, the International Criminal Court opened an investigation into acts of violence committed during the conflict after the election, and ICC chief prosecutor Luis Moreno Ocampo visited the country.

[62] The following month, the ICC formally issued an arrest warrant for Gbagbo, charging him with four counts of crimes against humanity – murder, rape and other forms of sexual violence, persecution and other inhuman acts allegedly committed between 16 December 2010 and 12 April 2011.

Conversely, human rights groups hailed Gbagbo's arrest while also stating that pro-Ouattara forces that committed crimes should also be held accountable.

The following year, a Ghanaian magistrate rejected the extradition request, determining that the warrant issued by the Ivorian government was politically motivated.

[64] Gbagbo's trial at the ICC began on 28 January 2016, where he denied all charges against him; crimes against humanity including murder, rape and persecution, as did his co-accused Charles Blé Goudé.

[69] Amnesty International called the acquittal of Gbagbo and Blé Goudé "a crushing disappointment to victims of post-election violence in Cote d’Ivoire" but noted that the Office of the Prosecutor was likely to appeal.

[11] After his acquittal was confirmed, current Ivorian President Alassane Ouattara, Gbagbo's rival, invited him back to Côte d'Ivoire.

[78][79] Ouattara arranged him a diplomatic passport, and promised him the benefits that are typically given to ex-presidents, including state-provided security and a state pension.

According to a statement from his party, he went there to attend the funeral of Captain Kojo Tsikata, a man close to the former president of Ghana Jerry Rawlings.