Burkina: "If François Compaoré is extradited, he will be killed in a cell", according to his lawyers

A poster in Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso, calling for the truth in the Zongo case.

AHMED OUOBA / AFP

Text by: RFI Follow

3 min

François Compaoré, younger brother of the former President of Burkina Faso, Blaise Compaoré, was, this Monday, July 12, before the French Council of State in Paris.

Last step in its French procedure to avoid extradition to Burkina where " 

the little president

 " is charged with " 

incitement to assassination

 " in the Norbert Zongo affair.

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In front of François Compaoré and his wife, in the wooded litigation room of the Council of State, the floor is first given to the public rapporteur.

It is he who offers the judges of the Council of State an opinion, after analysis of the file.

Does the extradition request have a political purpose?

Are security and a fair procedure for François Compaoré guaranteed?

The rapporteur concludes that trust between States must prevail, despite the reasons for hesitation and therefore, that François Compaoré's request must be rejected.

Then rises the lawyer, Maître François-Henri Briard, who in a serious tone calls out to the assembly: “ 

You have a great responsibility. The life of François Compaoré is in your hands.

 He describes Burkina as a country " 

devastated by insecurity and terrorism

 ", with a "

dilapidated and corrupt

 "

judiciary 

and a

"

disastrous

 "

prison system 

. " 

This affair is very political

 " (...) " 

You must cancel the decree. There are countries for which diplomatic guarantees do not work. These are just parchment guarantees.

 "(...)" 

An extradition to Burkina would, for François Compaoré, be an extradition to chaos, hell and death.

 "

At the end of the hearing, François Compaoré's other lawyer, Maître Pierre-Olivier Sur, declared: “ 

If François Compaoré is extradited, he will be killed in a cell.

 "

The Council of State has at least two weeks to render its decision.

If the extradition decree is not annulled, François Compaoré's lawyers plan to urgently seize the European Court of Human Rights to ask the French government to suspend the extradition.

Read also: Norbert Zongo case: François Compaoré soon fixed on his possible extradition

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  • Burkina Faso

  • France

  • Justice

  • Blaise Compaore