By Enyichukwu Enemanna
The transitional legislative assembly in Burkina Faso has passed a bill granting amnesty to soldiers involved in the September 2015 failed coup.
The amnesty covers only events that took place on 15 and 16 September 2015, when members of ex-President Blaise Compaoré’s elite Presidential Security Regiment tried to end the transitional government, less than a month before democratic elections.
The coup failed after a section of the military pushed back.
Compaoré was forced out of office in 2014 by protesters opposing his attempt to change the constitution to extend his 27-year rule.
Soldiers seeking to benefit from what the legislation calls “administrative grace” must submit a formal request to the head of state, Captain Ibrahim Traoré, who himself came to power through a coup.
Approval of amnesty will depend on an assessment of the threat the applicant poses to public institutions and their commitment to joining the fight against terrorism.
During the presentation of the bill before the transitional parliament, Minister of Justice Edasso Rodrigue Bayala said applicants will have to admit to the facts, behave well, and be willing to be operationally deployed in the fight against terrorism.
Anyone granted amnesty will no longer face legal prosecution, convictions will be overturned, and the offences will not be mentioned in the person’s record, the Justice Minister stated.
Several high-ranking officers were sentenced to prison terms in 2019 over the 2015 attempted coup.
The legislation received overwhelming support in the legislature, with 67 votes, while only three abstentions were recorded.
Some view it as a step towards national reconciliation, while others question its motives and potential consequences.
In Burkina Faso, Roch Marc Christian Kaboré won the country’s first democratic election in 50 years but was ousted in a military-led insurgency in January 2022.
Nine months later, Traoré, who is still in power, led a second coup in the country within one year.
