Sankara murder trial: Diendéré's ex-deputy accuses him of being one of the planners
Burkinabe general Gilbert Diendéré during the trial for the assassination of Thomas Sankara in Ouagadougou, October 11, 2021. © OLYMPIA DE MAISMONT / AFP
Text by: RFI Follow
2 min
At the time, Abdrahamane Zetiyenga was Lieutenant Gilbert Dienderé's deputy on the Council of the Entente since the seizure of power by Captain Thomas Sankara and his comrades in 1983. At the bar this Wednesday, December 8, he accused Lieutenant Gilbert Dienderé for being one of the planners of the coup.
He claims to have received an "
emissary
" from General Gilbert Dienderé, offering to give "
false testimony
" in his favor before the investigating judge.
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With our correspondent in Ouagadougou,
Yaya Boudani
Having gone to the commando training camp in Po for training, he receives a handwritten letter from Captain Thomas Sankara.
In this letter the father of the revolution explains to him that the situation which prevails within the historical leaders of the revolution.
Fearing a bloody outcome of the crisis, Warrant Officer Abdrahamane Zetiyenga decides to return to Ouagadougou on October 10 and meets President Thomas Sankara with whom he discusses the situation.
Sankara promises him to find a solution to the crisis.
Abdrahamane Zetiyenga then met Lieutenant Gilbert Diendéré, his chief, to share his concerns with him, but the latter showed no sign of concern.
“
On October 11, 1987, I reported on my meeting the day before with President Sankara to Lieutenant Diendéré.
He listened to me without saying anything.
And there I started to worry
”, relates the witness.
►
To read also: Trial of the assassination of Sankara: at the bar, General Diendéré pleads not guilty
Abdrahamane Zetiyenga claims to have tried to find a solution to the crisis between the leaders of the Burkinabè revolution.
He says he then proposed a meeting between the various guards.
And it was summoned by Lieutenant Gilbert Dienderé on the morning of October 15.
“
All of the president's guards were present.
But only one guard of Blaise Compaoré participated in the meeting
”during which Lieutenant Diendéré did not say a single word, according to the witness.
"
A few moments after the meeting, around 2 p.m., Gilbert Diendéré told me that he had received a category A message, on a plan to arrest Blaise Compaoré and the other responsible for the revolution at 8 p.m.
" underlines the adjutant. -Chief Major Abdrahamane Zetiyenga.
Gilbert Dienderé decides on the spot, according to the witness, to have Thomas Sankara arrested to “
avoid a bloodbath
”.
And twenty minutes after the entry of President Sankara to the Council of the Entente, gunshots broke out, said Chief Warrant Officer Abdrahamane Zetiyenga.
►
To read also: Assassination of Thomas Sankara: challenges and limits of a historic trial
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Thomas sankara
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Burkina Faso