18 years on, no justice for murdered Burkinabe journalist

At the justice palace in Ouagadougou, demonstrators observed 13 minutes of silence in remembrance of Nobert Zongo.

Zongo was assassinated in 1998, at the age of 49, while investigating allegations linking the brother of Burkina Faso’s President, Blaise Compaore, to a high-profile unsolved murder.

Fellow journalists are outraged over the delays in pursuing justice on this case

‘‘This long wait makes us ashamed. 18 years to commemorate the sad anniversary of the assassination of Norbert Zongo and his companions without the slightest justice. We revolt,’‘ said Boureima Ouedraogo, the spokesman of Professional Journalists Association in Burkina Faso.

Yet, for many Burkinabes, the fall of the ex-President, Blaise Compaore, symbolized the end of impunity. They believe that a lot of injustice was done to them.

In November 2013, nearly two years after the case was originally filed and almost 15 years after Norbert was killed, his family finally had the opportunity for the first time to put their appeal for justice before a court not controlled by the government of Burkina Faso.

“It is really sad because we thought that with the departure of Blaise Compaore things were going to move ahead. This is not good, we are still disappointed to see that the case is still untouched and nothing good has happened,’‘ said Guy Zongo, the son of the late Norbert Zongo.

The judiciary are aware of the complexity of this case and in the past 18 years, nothing has been done yet.

The date of the opening of the trial has not yet been fixed.