Burkina Faso: the question of justice hangs over the return of Blaise Compaoré

Former Burkinabè President Blaise Compaoré is back in Burkina Faso after almost 8 years of exile in Côte d'Ivoire.

(illustrative image) AFP/O.

Morin

Text by: RFI Follow

3 mins

Blaise Compaoré arrived in Ouagadougou on Thursday July 7 in the early afternoon on a private flight chartered by the Ivorian authorities.

A return made possible by the junta in power, officially, for talks with the president of the transition, Lieutenant-Colonel Damiba, and the former presidents of the country.

But Blaise Comaporé was sentenced in April to life imprisonment for his role in the assassination of Thomas Sankara.

After nearly 8 years of exile, his return without being imprisoned is therefore controversial.

Advertising

Read more

When Blaise Compaoré fled in October 2014, driven out by a popular uprising and released by the army, it was in Côte d'Ivoire that he landed.

A year later, Burkinabe military justice issued

against him for his involvement in the death of Thomas Sankara, assassinated in 1987 during the coup that brought Blaise Compaoré to power.

In 2016, he obtained Ivorian nationality, which complicates any possibility of extradition.

Three years ago, when the country was plagued by terrorist attacks, Blaise Compaoré wrote a letter to the current president, Roch Marc Christian Kaboré.

He expresses his “

” to support all initiatives for the promotion of peace.

Discussions for a possible return are underway.

Last year, the Burkinabè Minister for National Reconciliation, Zéphirin Diabré, traveled to Abidjan to meet him.

But on April 6, Blaise Comparé was

by the justice of his country for his role in the assassination of Thomas Sankara.

►

Faced with this return of the former head of state, the heirs of the victims of the 1987 coup d'état demand that “

.

“ Maître Ambroise Farama, lawyer for the civil parties in the trial of the assassins of Thomas Sankara, even describes a situation of “ 

”.

For the counsel of the beneficiaries of the victims, the law is clear: the judgment which condemns Blaise Compaoré to life imprisonment in the Sankara case is worth an arrest warrant.

Thus, as soon as he sets foot on Burkinabe territory, the former president must be arrested.

It is a pitiful scenario that we are witnessing, which calls into question everything that has been built over the past eight years to ensure that the rule of law takes root in Burkina Faso.

From now on, justice is discredited.

Reconciliation cannot be decreed, it cannot be imposed.

Souleymane Ouédraogo, member of the national coordination of the Balai Citoyen

Gaelle Laleix

It is however free that he left the airport of Ouagadougou on Thursday and that he will go this Friday to a meeting with other former heads of state of Burkina Faso.

In a press release, the presidency however assured that “

 While the Ivorian presidency claimed to have obtained all the guarantees that Blaise Compaoré would not risk imprisonment.

For Pierre-Olivier Sur, lawyer for Blaise Compaoré, “

 The council is counting in particular on an amnesty or a presidential pardon.

An outcome that would be "

" according to Ambroise Farama, especially since Blaise Compaoré refused to face Burkinabè justice.

It is not the court decision that counts, it is the moment of reconciliation which, on the contrary, is essential.

And of course, the law will follow.

It will be either an amnesty, or I don't know what text that will seal the return to the country within the framework of reconciliation, impunity now.

Pierre-Olivier Sur, lawyer for Blaise Compaoré

Gaelle Laleix

Newsletter

Receive all the international news directly in your mailbox

I subscribe

Follow all the international news by downloading the RFI application

google-play-badge_FR

• Burkina Faso

• Ivory Coast

• Blaise Compaore