Burkina Faso: demonstrators demand the release of Lieutenant-Colonel Zoungrana
A soldier stands guard in front of a building in Ouagadougou in 2014. REUTERS / Joe Penney
Text by: RFI Follow
1 min
Accused at the beginning of January of an attempted coup against the power of Roch Marc Christian Kaboré, he had been arrested with several non-commissioned officers.
Since then, he has been imprisoned in the military prison and correctional centre.
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With our correspondent in Ouagadougou,
Yaya Boudani
The demonstrators left the people's house to join the military court in Ouagadougou, shouting "
release Lieutenant-Colonel Emmanuel Zoungrana
".
For Martin Kobendé, this first demonstration is an alert addressed to the authorities on the fate of Lieutenant-Colonel Emmanuel Zoungrana.
“
First, he is accused of an attempted coup and to our surprise, we bring other charges and we still keep him at Maca
[Maison d'Arrêt et de Correction des Armies, NDLR].
Investigations have been made into these charges and we demand that justice be done
.
»
Accused of conspiracy against the power of ex-president Roch Marc Christian Kaboré, embezzlement of property, illicit enrichment and money laundering,
the officer has been imprisoned since January 10, 2022
.
The Minister of the Armed Forces, General Aimé Barthelemy Simporé, explained that the alleged conspirators had been denounced by a soldier.
For this collective, the place of Lieutenant-Colonel Emmanuel Zoungrana is rather on the front line of the fight against terrorism: "
We think that if nothing is done within two weeks, we will come out again, and this time massively.
They shouldn't say they don't know about that.
Let them free our warlord as soon as possible because we really need him to liberate the country.
»
The demonstrators intend to use other means to make themselves heard, if nothing is done immediately, for the release of Lieutenant-Colonel Emmanuel Zoungrana.
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Burkina Faso