The arrested soldiers are Adjudant Windinmaleguedé, Sergent-Chef Brice Ismaël Ramdé, and former Caporal Sami Dah. Suspected of an attempted destabilization plot, these soldiers have been presented to the judge and charged with military conspiracy, breach of discipline, conspiracy against the security of the state, association of wrongdoers, and endangering the lives of others.
The three soldiers were apprehended following a tip-off, according to the military prosecutor’s office, which added that they were tasked with identifying “sensitive points” as well as the residences of the transitional president and certain civilian and military authorities to destabilize the conduct of the transition. The arrested soldiers “frankly admitted the facts,” the military prosecutor said in a statement.
At the end of August, the Ministry of Security reported that “sinister individuals,” some of whom were of foreign nationality, were planning to destabilize the transition with internal complicity. According to Minister Émile Zerbo, their goal is to sow “chaos” in Burkina Faso. The minister assured that measures had been taken to “deal with this threat with the greatest firmness.” The military prosecutor emphasized that investigations are ongoing to establish “any possible implications and consequences.”
Since Captain Ibrahim Traoré took power, the military prosecutor’s office has repeatedly mentioned plots to destabilize the transition. Several civilians and military personnel are incarcerated in the army’s detention and correction center. For now, it cannot be said that all these cases are related.