Ouagadougou – Several hundred people demonstrated on Monday in the Burkina Faso capital demanding “justice” for investigative journalist Norbert Zongo, gunned down in 1998 and whose case is now entangled in a European court.
The demonstrators gathered in the heart of Ouagadougou calling for “truth and justice” for Zongo and three others who were also riddled with bullets under the regime of Blaise Campaore, an AFP reporter said.
“No to death squads”, “No to intimation and threats”, they chanted.
Zongo was director of the weekly newspaper L’Independant when he and his three friends were found dead in the charred remains of a vehicle in the south of the country on December 13, 1998.
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Zongo had carried out controversial investigations into poor governance under President Blaise Compaore and at the time of his murder was following up on the death of David Ouedraogo, chauffeur to Francois Compaore, the president’s younger brother and economic adviser.
An independent inquiry found the journalist had been killed “carrying out his duties”.
“Twenty-three years after these odious and heinous crimes were committed we are still here, determined that light be shed and justice done,” said Chrysogone Zougmore who heads a collective of political parties and groups fighting legal impunity in the country battling a jihadist insurgency.
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The case had been dismissed in 2003, but was re-opened following the fall of Blaise Compaore in late 2014, after 27 years in power.
Accused of “inciting murder” Francois Compaore was discovered in France where his extradition to Burkina Faso was approved.
However, he went to the European Court of Human Rights which suspended the extradition order while it examines the dossier.
“Francois Compaore and his lawyers are playing for time,” said Zougmore, urging the court to deal with the case urgently so he can be returned home and finally face trial.
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Source: AFP
Picture: Getty Images
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