ABIDJAN, Ivory Coast (AP) — Ivory Coast’s former strongman, who refused to accept his loss in last year’s election and nearly dragged the country into civil war in a bid to retain power, has boarded a plane and is en route to the International Criminal Court following the issue of an arrest warrant, according to his spokesman and a government official.

Ex-President Laurent Gbagbo has been under house arrest in the tiny village of Korhogo over 300 miles (500 kilometres) north of Abidjan since being ousted by internationally backed forces seven months ago.

In Abidjan, Gbagbo’s spokesman Kone Katinan confirmed that the former ruler had left the small locality in a special flight headed to The Hague. “He’s in the plane,” Katinan said. His departure was confirmed by a senior advisor to the country’s new president, who asked not to be named because he was not authorised to speak to the press.

In Paris, Gbagbo’s lawyer Emmanuel Altit said he had filed an appeal to stop an international arrest warrant issued yesterday through Ivory Coast state prosecutors. He said he expected that if the appeal isn’t granted, the ex-president would be transferred overnight.

The development, which comes almost exactly a year to the day after Ivory Coast’s disputed presidential election, was applauded by victims of Gbagbo’s regime and by rights groups because of the signal it sends against impunity.

Once he arrives in The Hague, Gbagbo will become the first former head of state to be taken into custody by the tribunal since its founding in 2002. Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir has been indicted, though he refuses to surrender, while former Liberian warlord Charles Taylor and Yugoslav leader Slobodan Milosevic have been tried there by special ad hoc tribunals, rather than the world court.

The move could further stoke tension in Ivory Coast, however, because it gives the appearance of victor’s justice, since grave abuses were also committed by forces loyal to the country’s democratically elected leader, Alassane Ouattara, who enlisted the help of a former rebel group in order to force Gbagbo from office.

In the Abidjan neighbourhoods that voted in large numbers for Gbagbo, the frustration was palpable. Retired insurance salesman Jack Koutouan, 67, called the move “an abuse of the law”.

Leaders of Gbagbo’s party, whose members are either under house arrest or else in exile, called the pending extradition an “injustice”.