Sankara trial: the general role of Gilbert Diendéré at the center of the latest pleadings
Burkinabe General Gilbert Diendéré (in military uniform) during the trial for the assassination of Thomas Sankara in Ouagadougou, October 11, 2021. © OLYMPIA DE MAISMONT/AFP
Text by: RFI Follow
2 mins
In Burkina Faso, the last defense arguments began Thursday in the trial of the assassination of Thomas Sankara.
The day was entirely devoted to the lawyers of Gilbert Diendéré, the powerful former head of the Presidential Security Regiment.
The general is accused of attacking state security, complicity in assassination, but also of concealing a corpse and bribing a witness.
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With our special correspondent in Ouagadougou
,
Sidy Yansané
General Gilbert Diendéré
, a high-ranking officer, is considered to be a crucial player in the events of October 15, 1987. had to be suspended until Friday.
The former private chief of staff of deposed President Blaise Compaoré was responsible in 1987 for around a hundred men at the Conseil de l'Entente, where a meeting was held around
Thomas Sankara
at the time of his assassination.
Gilbert Diendéré always said he arrived at the scene of the crime after hearing the shots,
despite witnesses who said the opposite
.
Testimonies that his lawyers describe as incoherent and contradictory, adding that the mere presence of the general on the scene does not make him responsible for the facts.
“For lack of having Blaise Compaoré…”
For Me Abdoul Latif Dabo, this trial is nothing but a political cabal whose objective would be to make his client pay for his longevity with former President Compaoré, in exile in Abidjan.
“
When we say it's a proxy trial, when we accuse, we affirm, we index and we don't demonstrate, it's a plot against our client.
Without Blaise Compaoré, Hyacinthe Kafando or Somé Gaspard Désiré, you obviously need someone, and you don't want small fry.
We do not want our client to be used for this purpose.
We want the right to be said
.
»
Today is the last day to convince the judges of the innocence of the general, against whom the military prosecutor's office has requested twenty years in prison.
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To read again: Our webdoc: who had Sankara killed?
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Burkina Faso
Thomas Sankara
Justice
Gilbert Diendere