Generals sent to 30 years in prison over coup

By  Wale Odunsi 

Associates of Burkina Faso’s deposed former president Blaise Compaore have been sentenced to prison for organising a 2015 coup attempt against a transitional government.

Al-Jazeera reports that a military court handed General Gilbert Diendere a 20-year prison term on Monday on charges of murder and harming state security.

General Djibrill Bassole, accused of treason, was given a 10-year prison sentence.

“This is a victory for the Burkinabe people, a victory for democracy and the rule of law,” said Prosper Farama, a lawyer for people injured in the coup attempt.

“Only the people, by their legitimacy, confer power.”

Fourteen people were killed and more than 300 wounded during the unrest.

Diendere and Bassole were the leading figures in a 19-month trial of 84 people accused of the attempted overthrow of Burkina’s transitional government.

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