Documents call for burning of Mogo Naba Palace: consideration of request for provisional release postponed to July 19, no objection from the Attorney General’s Office

Friday, July 5, was a day without respite and with a large number of documents being filed at the Ouagadougou Court of Appeal. The litigants had been testifying since the early hours of the morning. There were only about twenty minutes of breaks, and then the documents would come one after another (and a large number of referrals for various reasons). So, at 6:00 pm, the President of the Court issued a document entitled “Call for the burning of the Mogo Naba Palace”.

The court made it clear that the document had to be sent back due to the absence of witnesses (three) and audio. The committee requested that the document be made public. Finally, it returned to the general role (a new date will be set).

The committee relied on the request for provisional release that was subsequently filed. They put forward a number of arguments, including the good mental and behavioral qualities of their clients from the initial investigation to the present (they have cooperated with the investigators, they have benefited from a few days of leave several times and happily returned to work), some and many other reasons to support the guarantee of representing their clients, etc.). They also pointed out that some of them have already completed their sentences or have only two months left to complete their sentences. The lawyers also insisted that in provisional release there is no risk of witness tampering (witnesses have already testified and are recorded in the report). For all these reasons, they asked the court to allow all their clients to appear freely before the court.

“The Attorney General’s Office does not object to the request for provisional release,” the prosecutor requested.

At 6:38 p.m., the court finally postponed consideration of these requests for provisional release until July 19, 2024 (the attorneys requested an immediate consideration).

“We filed a request for provisional release by chance. The court was very concerned about our request for provisional release because the means used were indeed relevant, but the court decided to consider the request for provisional release until July 19,” Paul Kéré said at the end of the hearing, and hoped that by this date, provisional release would be granted to all clients.

Regarding the documents themselves, Me Kéré recalls that everything started with this element known as the fire in the palace of Mogo Naba. “Mogo Naba himself said: ‘I will not be a civil party because I am not interested in this procedure.’ These are ‘what they say’, these are writings of unknown authors. I think Burkina Faso has much more to do than just limit itself to such epiphenomena, so we must quickly close the page and move on to something else,” commented Paul Kéré in response to a reporter’s question.

OL

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