by James Tweedie, Thursday January 28 2016 Former Cote D’Ivoire president Laurent Gbagbo pleaded not guilty to crimes against humanity at the start of his trial at the Hague on Thursday. Prosecutor Fatou Bensouda told a panel of three judges that Ivorian Popular Front leader Mr Gbagbo and his former youth minister Charles Ble Goude had ordered attacks on opposition party supporters in 2011 order to keep power. But Mr Gbagbo's supporters gathered outside the Netherlands court to denounce the proceedings as a show trial, saying he was being punished for standing up to former colonial power France. Mr Gbagbo was overthrown by Rally of the Republicans candidate — and former International Monetary Fund deputy managing director — Alassane Ouattara after months of street violence following the disputed 2010 elections. On December 2 2010, four days after the final round of voting, Ivorian Independent Electoral Commission (IEC) Chairman Youssouf Bakayoko announced provi