Alleged coup plot: Togo extradites ex-Burkina leader to Ouagadougou

Traore

Togo has extradited Burkina Faso’s former transitional president to his home country, where he is accused of plotting several attempted coups, the government said Tuesday.

Paul-Henri Sandaogo Damiba seized power in January 2022 in Burkina Faso, only to be ousted nine months later in the coup that installed the current junta chief, Captain Ibrahim Traore.

Since going into exile in Togo, Damiba has regularly been accused by Burkina’s military junta of planning coup plots and assassination attempts, the latest earlier this month.

Damiba was arrested in Lome on January 16, “in execution of an arrest warrant accompanied by an extradition request” sent four days earlier by Burkinabe authorities, Togolese Justice Minister Pacome Adjourouvi said in a statement.

He was “handed over to the authorities” in Ouagadougou the day after his arrest, the statement said.

He is being prosecuted for “criminal embezzlement of public funds, criminal illicit enrichment, corruption, incitement to commit offences and crimes, aggravated concealment and money laundering”.

Togo’s justice minister said the extradition was approved because Burkina Faso provided “guarantees” regarding Damiba’s physical integrity and his right to a fair trial.

He also noted the “absence of the death penalty,” even though Burkina Faso recently reinstated it for crimes of high treason.

Authorities in Ouagadougou had yet to comment on the matter as of Tuesday afternoon.

Alleged coups

Since seizing power, the Traore-led junta has repeatedly said it has thwarted attempts to destabilise the country.

On January 3, the military leadership said it had foiled an assassination attempt against Traore, pointing the finger at Damiba.