Damana Pickass, a senior official in the party of former Ivorian president and now opposition leader Laurent Gbagbo, was arrested Tuesday near Abidjan, accused of calling for "popular insurrection" before the presidential election on October 25, the prosecutor said Wednesday.

Mr. Pickass is also the general coordinator of the "Common Front" which brings together the two main opposition parties in the country, the PPA-CI of Laurent Gbagbo and the PDCI of Tidjane Thiam.

These two leaders had been barred by the courts from the presidential election, which was won with nearly 90% of the vote by the outgoing head of state, Alassane Ouattara.

"On Tuesday, the national police arrested Mr. Pickass in Bingerville," said prosecutor Oumar Braman Koné in a statement.

His arrest was confirmed to AFP by the party.

Before the presidential election, the Common Front called for several demonstrations to protest the exclusion of its candidates, marches that were banned by the government. Another march is planned for Saturday.

"Some political actors, including Damana Adia Pickass, have called for a popular uprising and the overthrow of the institutions of the Republic," continued Prosecutor Koné.

"These calls (...) led to the formation of armed and unarmed gatherings" which "caused acts of violence undermining national security," he added.

The October 25th election was generally peaceful, but was not free of violence in this country where the presidential election is often synonymous with political tensions.

In total, eleven people died in pre-election protests or in intercommunal clashes on election day. The opposition claims a death toll of 27.

More than a hundred people have been sentenced to three years in prison for participating in these demonstrations, according to their lawyers.

A long-time supporter of Laurent Gbagbo, and a proponent of the hardline wing of his party, Damana Pickass last appeared on October 16th where, in a video of about twenty minutes, he called on Ivorians to demonstrate.

"All Ivorians are invited to occupy the streets peacefully. I invite you to much more determination, much more will, much more commitment," he said.

At the end of September, during a court summons, he said he had been "warned" by the prosecutor that he would be arrested in the event of public disorder.

And at the beginning of the year, he received a 10-year prison sentence for "undermining state security", concerning events dating back to 2021. In the absence of a warrant for his arrest, he was not incarcerated, as happens in Ivory Coast, even for heavy sentences.