Verdict of the Dabo Boukary trial: Diendéré sentenced to 20 years in prison and Bamba 10 years in prison

 

                                                  The student Dabo Boukary

 

The Dabo Boukary trial ended on September 21, 2022, at the Ouaga II High Court, with the pleadings of the lawyers, the requisition of the public prosecutor and the judgment of the president of the criminal chamber. The defendants Gilbert Diendéré, Mamadou Bamba, Magloire Yougbaré are respectively sentenced to 20 years, 10 years and 30 years in prison.

32 years after his assassination, justice has finally been served for 7th year medical student Dabo Boukary. The perpetrators of his death on May 19, 1990 were respectively sentenced to 20 years, 10 years and 30 years in prison, after 22 years of legal proceedings.

It was a marathon or even commando trial for everyone. Started on September 19, 2022, the trial ended on September 22, 2022.

The file, which has therefore known all the adventures during these years, has seen its epilogue. On September 21, in the criminal chamber of the Court of Appeal, there were so many emotions during the pleadings of the civil party made up of approximately 14 lawyers including Me Bénéwendé Sankara, Me Prosper Farama and Me Ambroise Farama.

Pleading of the civil party on the Gilbert Diendéré case

The lawyers for the civil party are unanimous on one point in the Dabo Boukary case: the accused general Gilbert Diendéré is guilty of the charges against him.

For them, a person who has legal means to prevent an offense but does not do so becomes an accomplice to the offense. General Gilbert Diendéré could not ignore what was going on at the council of the agreement, declares Me Antoine Kaboré.

According to him, although the general admitted that he did not give orders for the arrest of the students, he told his elements to send the students to Po (Centre-Sud region) and to transfer the body of Dabo Boukary at Po.

And to continue: “the victims recognize that it was he who gave the instructions for them to be mistreated and forcibly incorporated into the army”. Which goes to show that he was well aware of everything.

If Gilbert Diendéré says that he was not aware of the transfer of students, on what basis, he receives them in his office to suggest that they join the army? asks Me Antoine Kaboré. Worse, the council means, Diendéré took no steps to sanction those responsible for the forfeits, according to the lawyer. “You can’t order a body and just come and see the damage,” he said. 

 

For him, there is mens rea in this case. Clearly, it is the knowledge by the accomplice that his actions will contribute to the commission of an offence. The general adopted what the council called “the non-performance of an obligation to intervene”, the fact of letting things go without opposition. 

In his argument, Me Ambroise Farama did not fail to say that the offense of intentional bodily harm resulting in death is sufficiently constituted.

He finds that the fact that Gilbert Diendéré did not take steps to prevent the offense makes him guilty. “What we blame him for is not having taken his responsibilities to prevent what happened,” he said.

Me Bénéwendé did not want to talk too much. He simply maintains that the facts are sufficiently established in the Dabo file.

Speaking, Mr. Prosper Farama, “very shocked” by the “wickedness with which” the soldiers treated the students in May 1990, flowed tears. “Too bad, Dabo Boukary did not have time to have a child, I would have had the great pleasure of pleading in front of this child. But people, for years, have decided the right of life and death of others. We can’t accept that ,” he said.

The only tribute that can be paid to a victim is to fight for justice, loose Me Farama who insisted on questioning the responsibility for the guilt of the accused in this case of Dabo Boukary.

 He points out that “as regards the drama of May 19, 1990, the thinking head was Salif Diallo, the maestro was Blaise Compaoré himself and the man in the field was Gilbert Diendéré”. Me Prosper Farama affirms that there is no difference between the one who killed and the one who watched killing. 

The accused Mamadou Bamba

The statements issued by the doctor Lieutenant-Colonel Mamadou Bamba were rejected by the lawyers of the civil party who are formal on his guilt.

It was Bamba who identified the students, so that they would be taken to the council and mistreated, advances Me Antoine Kaboré who adds that all the victims saw him, except himself.

Mamadou Bamba

According to his words, Bamba knew very well that by indicating the students to be arrested, this would lead to the commission of an offense or the death of a man. He is well involved in the arrests, he adds.

“Mamadou Bamba became a colonel thanks to the death of Dabo Boukary”, launches Me Prosper Farama.

Requisition of the Attorney General

Attorney General Arsène Francis Sanou took care to summarize everything that was said before the criminal chamber, with regard to the Dabo Boukary file. He found that certain facts that weigh on the defendants are made up.

For him, Gilbert Diendéré is guilty of aggravated forcible confinement. He therefore requested against him a prison sentence of 7 years. The Attorney General nevertheless requested that the facts of complicity in illegal arrests and concealment of the body against him be abandoned.

From his explanations, the assault and battery offense resulting in death without the intention of giving it cannot be retained because, Diendéré realized a posteriori the commission of the offense in May 1990.

Speaking of the concealment of corpses, Arsène Francis Sanou pointed out that once General Gilbert Diendéré noted the death of Dabo Boukary and ordered that a medical vehicle take the body to go and bury it in Pô, he cannot be prosecuted for this offence.

As for the doctor Lieutenant-Colonel Mamadou Bamba, the general prosecutor’s office finds that he is guilty of the acts of complicity in illegal arrests and complicity in aggravated kidnapping. He requested against him a 10-year prison sentence with a fine of 1 million CFA francs.

In the case of Magloire Yougbaré who is on the run, he was tried by default. Complicity in aggravated arrests and complicity in aggravated kidnapping are the facts held against him in the Dabo Boukary trial. The Attorney General requested against him, life imprisonment, with a fine of 10 million CFA francs.

Defense pleadings

Mamadou Bamba’s sentence is heavy, said his counsel, Me Mamadou Sombié, who pleaded for extenuating circumstances to be found for his client. In his argument, he asked the chamber to release Mamadou Bamba for the benefit of the doubt.

According to Me Jean Saba, one of General Gilbert Diendéré’s lawyers, there is a prescription for the offense of aggravated sequestration. In addition, “my client did not attend, did not give the order to hit anyone. He was on a mission, he was not there at the time of the events. So this offense is not constituted, ”continues the council.

For the concealment of the corpse, he maintains that his client did not himself bury the body of Dabo Boukary, he gave an order which he received from the Head of State. He asked the chamber to treat this offense as unconstitutional.

The defense goes further by declaring that no element has been established with regard to the charges against Gilbert Diendéré. Consequently, it must be relaxed and, failing that, a reprieve because the guilty intention is difficult to find in the facts.

Gilbert Diendéré, Mamadou Bamba sentenced…

After having listened to all the parties debate among themselves for more than 4 hours, the president of the criminal chamber San Louis Ouattara decided to withdraw with his advice at 9:27 p.m. to deliberate. At exactly 12:42 a.m., the President delivered his ruling, which is unequivocal.

General Gilbert Diendéré is sentenced to 20 years in prison with a fine of 1 million CFA francs for complicity in arrest and aggravated kidnapping. 

On the other hand, for assault and battery offenses resulting in death without the intention of giving it and concealment of a corpse, there is prescription. Hear there, the chamber decides to drop these charges.

The judges at the trial of Dabo Boukary

Doctor Lieutenant-Colonel Mamadou Bamba was sentenced to 10 years in prison with a fine of 1 million CFA francs, for complicity in illegal arrests and aggravated kidnapping.

As for Magloire Victor Yougbaré, he was found guilty of complicity in arrests and aggravated forcible confinement. He was sentenced to 30 years in prison by default, with a fine of 5 million CFA francs. An arrest warrant has also been issued against him. 

The defendants have 15 days to appeal the judgment of the criminal chamber.

1 F symbolic

Dabo Boukary’s family requested a symbolic sum of 1 F, a burial for the victim, plus a death certificate. The National Association of Burkina Students (ANEB) is also claiming the symbolic sum of 1 F.

The State must be recognized as being civilly responsible for this purpose. In this case, he must be the guarantor of the effective implementation of the requests made. Note that this does not mean that the State is guilty of any offense in the file. 

 

Reactions

The court decision having been rendered, the part of the defense in the trial seems not to be satisfied. “We are going to discuss among ourselves and see what we will do”, launches Me Abdou Latif Dabo. He makes it clear that he does not know if they will appeal but after discussion with the defendants, the result will be known. 

However, on the side of the civil party, the satisfaction is considerable. For Me Prosper Farama, one of the lawyers, justice has been done in Dabo Boukary and that is beneficial. He hopes that this court decision will be respected.

The name of Blaise Compaoré was mentioned in the file and the civil party would have liked him to be heard too. “The body of Dabo Boukary was buried in Pô thanks to Salif Diallo, Blaise Compaoré and Gilbert Diendéré, then buried like a dog barely a few centimeters from the ground”, deplores the lawyer for the civil party.

It is a satisfaction “for us who were sequestered with Dabo Boukary 32 years ago”, maintains Jean Yves Sansan Kambou, one of the witnesses.

“This verdict is purely pedagogical. We had to show some people that no one is above the law,” said Mr. Kambou.

A satisfaction shared by Seni Kouanda, president of the ANEB in 1990. For him, Dabo Boukary will finally be able to rest in peace, since the perpetrators of his assassination have been tried and sentenced. “If Salif Diallo was alive, he should also answer for his actions because his name has been cited several times throughout the trial,” he adds.

 

Yaovi AGBEGNIGAN

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