Pretoria - Cote d'Ivoire's former President Laurent Gbagbo faces four counts of crimes against humanity including murder, rape and persecution, the International Criminal Court (ICC) said on Wednesday.
Gbagbo arrived in the Hague earlier on Wednesday and was put under ICC custody.
He is the first former Head of State to be tried by the ICC since the tribunal was founded in 2002.
In a statement, the ICC said Gbagbo will not be the last person to be brought to justice for alleged crimes committed in the country after last year's elections.
Chief prosecutor of the court Luis Moreno-Ocampo said: "Ivorian victims will see justice for massive crimes. Gbagbo is the first to be brought to account, there is more to come."
According to the pre-trial chamber of the ICC, there are reasons to believe that in the aftermath of the presidential elections one year ago, after Gbagbo refused to acknowledge his defeat, his loyalists attacked the civilians who they believed were supporters of the opponent candidate.
"Gbagbo is brought to account for his individual responsibility in the attacks against civilians committed by forces acting on his behalf," Moreno-Ocampo said.
The ICC stated that the attacks were the result of an organisational policy and were widespread and systematic as they were committed over an extended time period, over large geographic areas, and following a similar general pattern.
Although Cote d'Ivoire is not part of the Rome Statute, the founding treaty of the ICC, it had accepted the jurisdiction of the ICC. Although the suspect's initial appearance hearing is still not announced, it will be held soon.
