The 2015 coup, led by Gen Diendéré, failed after a week
OUAGADOUGOU, Sept 5 (NNN-AGENCIES) — The wife of a former Burkina Faso general who led a short-lived coup in 2015 has been sentenced in absentia to 30 years in jail by a military tribunal.
Fatoumata Diendéré’s sentence exceeds the 20 years imposed on her husband, the coup leader Gilbert Diendéré.
The 2015 coup, staged by soldiers from an elite army unit loyal to ousted President Blaise Compaoré, failed after army-backed protesters stormed the putschists’ barracks.
Diendéré was Compaoré’s right-hand man and a former head of the presidential guard. He was convicted on Monday on charges of murder and harming state security.
His wife, who fled the country after the coup failed, was found guilty of similar charges, as well as assault and battery.
The prosecution said that she gave 10m CFA francs to two of the putschists, Col Mamadou Bamba and Traore Abdoul Karim Andre.
Compaoré’s 27-year rule ended in October 2014 after a wave of popular protests in reaction to plans to change the constitution to allow him to stand for re-election. — NNN-AGENCIES
