President Roch Marc Christian Kaboré of Burkina Faso has called on France to extradite the brother of his ousted predecessor – Blaise Compaoré despite the fact that the death penalty still exists in this country.
François Compaoré, 63, was detained late last month at Charles De Gaulle airport under an arrest warrant filed by Burkina Faso relating to the killing of journalist Norbert Zongo and three others.
“I already consider it a major victory that the arrest warrant has been executed on French territory,” President Roch Marc Christian Kaboré said in an interview with French media outlets in Ouagadougou.
The French court may, however, refuse the extradition request because Burkina Faso has the death penalty.
“Even if it’s legal, the death penalty is not applied in Burkina Faso,” Kaboré commented, adding that it has been more than 20 years since anyone has been implemented.
