François Compaoré is indicted for Incitement to murder in the Norbert Zongo affair.
Norbert Zongo was assassinated with the use of automatic weapons. Two colleagues of Norbert Zongo as well as his brother were also killed in the attack.Their car was then burned apparently to destroy the evidence.
Norbert Zongo was the director of the Independent, a Burkina Faso newspaper, he was at the time enquiring into the murder of David Ouedrago, François Compaoré’s chauffeur who had been tortured to death by agents of the President’s security regiment (RSP). David Ouedrago was delivered to the torturers by François Compaoré for interrogations concerning a theft from Compaoré’s wife. David Ouedrago died atrociously.
François Compaoré is no other than the little brother of the country’s dictator Blaise Compaoré who ruled over Burkina Faso for 27 years. He was overthrown by a popular insurrection in October 2014, then exfiltrated by French military special forces to avoid trial and justice.
In accordance with an Interpol international arrest warrant François Compaoré was arrested at Roissy Charles de Gaulle airport in Paris on 29 October.
Burkina Faso authorities have requested François Compaoré’s extradition and after a long procedure the French Prime Minister has now signed the decree granting the extradition. There are no longer any further barriers to the extradition going forward.
PRESS RELEASE FROM “JUSTICE FOR SANKARA JUSTICE FOR AFRICA” INTERNATIONAL NETWORK
François Compaoré must now be detained
We have learned on the fifth of March 2020 that the Prime Minister of France, Edouard Philippe, has authorized the extradition, to Burkina Faso, of François Compaoré, suspected of having commanded the assassination of the journalist Norbert Zongo in 1998.
After so many years of combat by the people of Burkina Faso and International associations, such as our own network, and in the face of a multitude of nefarious avoiding defensive actions symptomatic of a profound disregard for Burkina Faso justice, this decision is a victory for that justice and a declaration of the will of the [French] government to respect laws and rights.
Nevertheless, François Campaoré’s lawyers have announced that will file an appeal before the Conseil d’Etat, which, according to experts, could take up to a year to come to a decision. They would also if necessary, take their case to the European Court of Justice.
In the meantime, All precautions must be taken to prevent François Campaoré from fleeing. For this reason we urge the French authorities to put François Campaoré into preventive detention or under house arrest.
This decision is in accord with an agreement made by the French President on 28th November 2017 during a visit to Burkina Faso. On that occasion Emmanuel Macron announced, concerning the assassination of Thomas Sankara, “I have decided that all the documents produced by the French authorities during the Sankara regime and following the assassination… that have been kept secret, be declassified as requested by the Burkina Faso authorities”. We urge the French President to fully respect his promise.
7 March 2020
Ouagadougou, Bobo Dioulasso, Bamako, Dakar, Gran Canaria, Turin, Paris, Brussels, Liege,Totonto, Berlin, Ajaccio, Montpellier, Marseille, Toulouse, Nîmes.
“Justice for Sankara, justice for Africa” International network
Contact : contactjusticepoursankara@gmail.com
Translation : Mike Mike Krolikowski
