20111203
Reuters
(Reuters) - Former Ivory Coast President Laurent Gbagbo will appear before the International Criminal Court next Monday, the first former head of state to be tried by the ICC since its inception in 2002, officials said.

Gbagbo, 66, was flown from Ivory Coast to the Netherlands on Wednesday and transferred to a detention centre in The Hague.

The ICC has charged Gbagbo with crimes against humanity, including murder and rape.

About 3,000 people were killed and more than a million displaced in a four-month civil war in Ivory Coast after Gbagbo refused to cede power to Alassane Ouattara in an election last year.

At his first appearance before the court on Monday the judges would verify his identity and ensure he was properly informed of the charges against him, the ICC said in a statement late on Wednesday.