While Gbagbo is in a jail cell in The Hague, his wife Simone, who also has been charged by the ICC in the post-election violence, remains in custody in Ivory Coast, where officials have charged her with crimes including genocide.
Gbagbo is not the only official who has served as a head of state to be charged by the court, but he is the only one to have been sent to The Hague.
Prosecutors also have indicted Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir on charges including genocide in Darfur, but he refuses to recognize the court's jurisdiction and the ICC has no police force to arrest suspects.
Former Libyan dictator Moammar Gadhafi also was indicted for killing and persecuting civilians protesting against his regime, but the case was dropped after he was captured and killed by rebels during the uprising that toppled him from power.
The court has only successfully prosecuted one suspect, Congolese warlord Thomas Lubanga, who was found guilty of using child soldiers.
Associated Press writer Robbie Corey-Boulet in Abidjanm, Ivory Coast, contributed to this report.
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