Judgment of the General Court of 25 April 2013 – Gbagbo v Council
(Case T-119/11) 1
(Common foreign and security policy – Specific restrictive measures directed against certain persons and entities in view of the situation in Côte d’Ivoire – Freezing of funds – Alteration of heads of claim – Obligation to state reasons – Manifest error of assessment – Misuse of power – Rights of the defence – Right to property)
Language of the case: French
Parties
Applicant: Simone Gbagbo (Abidjan, Côte d’Ivoire) (represented by: J.-C. Tchikaya, lawyer)
Defendant: Council of the European Union (represented by: B. Driessen and M. Chavrier, agents)
Interveners in support of the defendant: European Commission (represented by: A. Bordes and M. Konstantinidis, agents) and the Republic of Côte d’Ivoire (represented by: J.-P. Mignard, J.-P. Benoit and G. Merland, lawyers)
Re:
Initially, an application for annulment, first, of Council Decision 2011/18/CFSP of 14 January 2011 amending Council Decision 2010/656/CFSP renewing the restrictive measures against Côte d’Ivoire (OJ 2011 L 11, p. 36), and, second, of Council Regulation (EU) No 25/2011 of 14 January 2011 amending Regulation (EC) No 560/2005 imposing certain specific restrictive measures directed against certain persons and entities in view of the situation in Côte d'Ivoire (OJ 2011 L 11, p. 1), in so far as those measures concern the applicant.
Operative part of the judgment
The Court:
Dismisses the action;
Orders Mrs Simone Gbagbo to bear her own costs and those incurred by the Council of the European Union;
Orders the Republic of Côte d’Ivoire and the European Commission to bear their own costs.
________________________1 OJ C 130, 30.4.2011.