Burkina Faso: “Today, an independent judiciary is better than an independent one,” says Badini Moctar, head of Sharing for Sharing

“We no longer expect anything from justice. We only ask that Captain Ibrahim Traoré take up his responsibilities. Justice is not free. When President Roch Marc Christian Kabore came to power, we organized a march to demand the restoration of the independence of the judicial system. But today we see that subordinate justice is better than independent justice. Even today we march for the restoration of his independence because we cannot understand the fact that a prosecutor who calls himself a Faso prosecutor says that he did not know that there was a crisis in Burkina Faso. What surprised me most was to see civilians and members of all other professions recruited as volunteers to defend the motherland, while seeing a note from the prosecutor in which he denied being aware of the crisis facing Burkina Faso. He further stated that the charges against the magistrates did not follow the normal procedures, so that when they were in the bush, they would be paid up to one million francs a day. This shows us that the Burkinabe judges are not seeking justice, but money. If they are judges who do justice, why did Blaise Compaoré, who was arrested and sentenced to death, walk without worries? On the land of Burkina Faso, while Mahamadou, who has always supported the government, is like this? Imprisoned for three months without evidence? When two forces decide to live in peace, they must help each other, otherwise it is up to the people to choose to whom they want to give power. From today, the only president of the judiciary that we recognize is Captain Ibrahim Traoré. The people are also asked to persevere, because France, who wanted to use the military to destabilize the country, found themselves facing the loyal Burkinabe army. Faced with a bitter defeat, they wanted to go “pagtagé”, but we did not fall into their divisive trap. Now they want to destroy the country through justice. But today, by the grace of God, we are more resolute and determined than ever to oppose corrupt justice. Every time the defense forces return from the front, they are happy to see that the people support them and that their choice to defend their homeland was not in vain. From today, we no longer need another president of the Supreme Council of the Judiciary, in addition to Captain Ibrahim Traoré, “Badini Moctar, head of the “Share for Sharing” organization.

“If we came here this morning, we were just going out to ask for a profound reform of the judiciary. What is a profound reform of the judiciary? It means that we are not against justice or justice workers, but we are against the existing system. This system that has been imposed on us since colonization and independence does not reflect the true reality of the Burkinabe people, so we want justice that reflects the image of the Burkinabe people. We are here this morning to ask the court to make a new reform of the Burkinabe judicial system because it is for the benefit of everyone. We do not want to destroy their work. No! We just want them to change their ways because we tell ourselves that justice comes from there. A system that was certainly imposed on us. We cannot say that everything is bad. We will keep what is good and what does not suit us, and we are trying to make real reforms for the happiness of the people of Burkina Faso. For example, if we catch a prisoner who has committed a minor crime, instead of keeping him in MACO for a year or two to feed him, we keep him at home and every morning at five o’clock we come to pick him up. Get him up so that he can do community work, work that is useful to the country, and in the evening we send him home. Not only does it do useful work, but it costs us less. These are the innovations we want. Innovations that reflect the reality of the people of Burkina Faso”, said Gausou Sanogo, member of the CNAVC movement.

“We are here this morning to tell the truth to the justice system because what they are doing is not right. Let them add water to the wine. We ask them to follow Captain Ibrahim Traoré. What was done before can no longer happen now. There are not two captains in a boat. We are with Ibrahim Traoré until the end. If not him, who can help us get out of this war? We ask them to be honest in justice and agree to go to the front lines,” declared the demonstrators “Patriotic Mothers”.

“This demonstration is truly patriotic and peaceful, aimed at condemning the actions of certain magistrates who we do not appreciate. They were called up for military service but refused and filed a complaint against the government. In which country have you seen a court bring a case against the government? Moreover, they claim that there is no physical evidence that the country is at war. We are asking all magistrates to go to the front lines and see what is happening before returning to town. We are not happy with them and that is why we are here, to express our displeasure through this peaceful march.”

Hanifa Koussoube

Anita Zongo (Intern)

Lefaso.com