The extradition decree of François Compaoré - younger brother of ousted president Blaise Compaoré - was validated since June 2019 by the Court of Cassation, but was awaiting the publication of a government decree. It is now done: Prime Minister Edouard Philippe signed it Thursday, March 5. The text must now be published in the Official Journal.

Contacted by AFP, the lawyer of the interested party, Me Pierre-Olivier Sur, refused to make any comment for the time being. This decree remains subject to appeal to the Council of State.

The brother of the ousted former president is implicated in the investigation into the 1998 assassination of Norbert Zongo, a recognized investigative journalist and editor of the weekly L'Indépendant. He was assassinated on December 13, 1998, while investigating the murder of François Compaoré's driver. His death had caused a deep political crisis in the "land of upright men".

The 49-year-old journalist, author of several resounding investigations denouncing bad governance under the Compaoré regime, had been killed with three of his companions. The four bodies had been found calcined in the south of Burkina Faso.

François Compaoré was arrested at Roissy airport in October 2017, in execution of an arrest warrant issued by the Ouagadougou authorities.

"A turning point"

But to date, he has not been charged in his country, unlike three ex-soldiers of the Presidential Security Regiment (RSP), the former Praetorian guard of Blaise Compaoré.

"It is a decisive turning point which has just been crossed in the quest for justice and the manifestation of the truth about this affair which has only lasted too long," reacted Guy Zongo, eldest son of Norbert Zongo. "This is another important step forward and we are delighted that it is going in the right direction and according to the agreements that exist between the two countries," he told AFP.

"Even if it is not today that he will be extradited since the decree can be appealed, sooner or later justice will be done. We are calm on this inevitable end. We hope that things will happen. do in accordance with the procedures and we hope to finally see this extradition take place, "he concluded.

In June 2019, the Court of Cassation had dismissed François Compaoré's appeal against his extradition to Ouagadougou, where the Zongo file, filed in 2003 after a "dismissal" in favor of the accused only, was reopened in favor of the fall of his brother, Blaise Compaoré.

With AFP

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