Soro and his legal team boycotted the trial, which lasted only a few hours, saying it was a ploy to keep him out of the election scheduled for October.

Guillaume Soro was the rebel leader who backed President Allasane Ouatarra in Cote’Ivoire’s second civil war a decade ago following Laurent Gbagbo’s refusal to accept defeat in the Presidential election.

He was made Prime Minister before falling out Ouatarra, who stands down in October after serving two terms.

Soro is accused of buying a house with government money.

His property in Abidjan has been confiscated and he has been stripped of civic rights for five years.

The post Ivorean presidential candidate Guillaume Soro fined $7 million appeared first on Jean-Jacques Cornish.