More than 80 people go on trial before a military court on Tuesday over
the failed 2015 coup in Burkina Faso, including two top generals accused of
masterminding the
plot.
The case is being seen as a test of the credibility of justice in the
former French colony which has been blighted by numerous coups and mutinies
since gaining independence in 1960. The two main defendants among the 84 on
trial are generals Djibrill Bassole and Gilbert Diendere — key allies of former
president Blaise Compaore who was chased from power in October 2014.
They are
accused of involvement in a coup launched the following year by Compaore’s old
presidential guard against the transitional government that took power after
the veteran leader’s fall. The elite unit known as the RSP briefly took the
country’s leaders hostage before the coup was thwarted by street protesters and
support from the army which attacked the plotters’ barracks.
Fourteen people
died and 270 were injured in the unrest. Coup leader Diendere, the former head
of the RSP, and his co-defendants are accused of a range of crimes including
undermining state security and murder. Former foreign minister Bassole is also
accused of treason over a recording of him reportedly telling the speaker of
parliament in neighbouring Ivory Coast of his support for the coup plot. All
risk heavy penalties, including the death sentence, according to judicial
sources.
Security will be high for the opening of what is expected to be a
lengthy trial, with hundreds of members of the security forces at the court and
its environs, according to security sources. Christophe Lompo, the deputy
secretary general of the ABCE, an association set up for victims of the
attempted coup, said the trial “would give them hope that they can heal their wounds
and seek reconciliation”. It should be an opportunity for those in the dock to
“admit their crimes and demand forgiveness from the people”, he added.
– ‘We
want the truth told’ –
“We are hoping for the light to be shed, the truth to be
told and for damages and compensation to be given to relatives of the victims
and to those injured,” ABCE president Honore Sawadogo added. The Burkinabe
Movement for Human and People’s Rights (MBDHP) described the case as a
“life-size test of the credibility of the Burkinabe judiciary”, often accused
of being under the control of those in power. Bassole’s party, the New Alliance
for Faso (NAFO), denounced what it said was the “government’s stranglehold on
the military tribunal”. “Too many unfair and arbitrary decisions have been made
against me in flagrant violation of my rights for me to be able to have
confidence in military justice,” Bassole himself said in an interview with the
private newspaper Le Pays on Tuesday. Diendere has hired five lawyers for the
case, according to a member of his entourage, speaking on condition of
anonymity. “He is ready for this trial, he is ready for everything to come
out,” he said. “This is also a trial for Burkina Faso… it is through this that
the people will test our judiciary.” Diendere has called for senior army
officials to appear as witnesses in the case, along with current president Roch
Marc Christian Kabore and transitional leader Michel Kafando, according to
judicial sources. Some analysts say the trial could also shed light on other
non-resolved cases in Burkina Faso, such as the assassination of Thomas Sankara
in 1987 or journalist Norbert Zongo in 1998, where the names of Diendere or
Campaore’s presidential guard often come up.
0 Comments