Burkina Faso's
President, Captain Ibrahim Traore, has pardoned 21 soldiers convicted of
attempting to overthrow Blaise Compaoré in 2015.
President
Traore's pardon was announced in a decree that went viral on social media on
April 1, 2025.
Compaoré came to
power in 1987 after a coup d'état that killed President Thomas Sankara.
Traore's
statement on the pardon read: "The individuals convicted by the court for
the acts committed on September 15 and 16, 2015 have been pardoned."
AFP reported that
the country's army chief of staff, Gilbert Diendere, former foreign minister
Djibril Bassole, and two other generals were sentenced to 20 years in prison,
while others were sentenced to 10 years in prison.
Among those
pardoned were former commanders of the presidential security forces, who were
convicted of crimes including subversion, murder, and treason.
The pardoned
soldiers will be immediately reinstated in the national army to contribute to
the fight against terrorism that has plagued Burkina Faso.
