Ouali admits wanting to topple President Compaore

The alleged mastermind of a foiled coup plot, army captain Luther Diapagri Ouali, admitted to a military court on Wednesday that he had seriously considered "removing President Blaise Compaore from his seat" in order to bring social justice to Burkina Faso. "Since 2000 I had the idea to make things move in my country by removing Compaore who is the only evil in Burkina Faso," Ouali told the court as the trial entered its second day in the capital, Ouagadougou. Appearing serene and determined before the panel of judges, the 44-year-old army officer said that "circumstances led me to seek to eliminate the main trouble maker in the country". Ouali is one of 11 soldiers and two civilians facing trial for an alleged coup plot to overthrow Compaore, which was uncovered by the security services in September last year. Had the coup succeeded, Ouali said, he would have handed over power to a senior officer chosen by the majority of the coup plotters. He added that he personally had also been ready to assume the presidency. Ouali, was a second lieutenant in 1985 when he was sacked from the army. He was reinstated in 1987, but has been fighting since then to be paid for the two years during which he was forced to leave the armed forces. He told the court that he conceived the idea of staging a coup after failing in his efforts to achieve compensation through all the normal channels. Ouali acknowledged a prosecution charge that he had received about 50 millions CFA (US$100,000) from Major Raphael Logbo, an aide to President Laurent Gbagbo of Cote d’Ivoire. He said they had been classmates together at a military college in Bouake in central Cote d'Ivoire. Ouali said the the money had beengiven to him to set up a transport business and three pick-up trucks were duly purchased. But he also acknowledged that part of the money would also have been used to help himself and other military comrades pursue their claims for unpaid benefits. "I went outside the country to look for the help I couldn’t get at home," Ouali said, adding that he had also received 100,000 cfa ($184) from a military officer in Togo. State prosecutor Abdoulaye Barry has accused the Ivorian authorities of encouraging Ouali to stage a coup and of promising to supply him with arms. Ouali said the only person to whom he had clearly explained his intentions to stage a coup was sergeant Nahon Babou, a former body guard of Compaore. He denied having held any formal meetings to prepare the coup, but admittied to having had "chats" with all his co-defendants. Ouali said he was inspired to do something to achieve justice in Burkina Faso by attending the funeral of Norbert Zongo, a journalist who was assassinated while investigating the murder inside of David Ouedraogo, the driver of Compaore’s younger brother. Ouedraogo was killed inside in a military barracks in 1998. "Why wasn't the the president’s brother arrested with the same speed with which we were arrested when we were facing such a deterioration in the nation?," Ouali asked. "I was called upon by the people to intervene and save them and I responded positively to their call," he added. Ouali continued: "I am not unhappy to be here today, it is an officer's duty, it is a patriotic duty to face the helplessness of the people, to topple Compaore." Compaore, a former army officer, has ruled this poor landlocked country in West Africa since coming to power in a bloody coup in 1987, during which former president Thomas Sankara was killed. Many of the accused told the court they had threatened and mistreated during their six months in custody before the trial. One of them, Captain Baguibie Baguibie, who is accused of being Ouali’s deputy, said he had been tied in chains and bundled into the boot of the car of an army colonel and then driven round the streets of Ouagadougou before he was asked to name former Defence Minister Kouame Lougue and Norbert Tiendrebeogo, a banker and leader of an opposition party as the people behind the coup attempt. Tiendrebeogo is one of two civilians on trial alongside Ouali and his alleged military conspirators, Louge, a former head of the army, was sacked as Defence Minister in January after being questioned about his suspected role in the coup plot. He has not been charged, but has been called to give evidence at the trial as a witness. Ouali faces a possible death penalty if convicted of treason. His co-defendants face prison terms of up to 20 years if found guilty of the lesser charge of plotting to endanger state security.