Burkina Faso’s junta leader, Captain Ibrahim Traore, has issued a pardon for 21 soldiers who were convicted for their participation in the failed 2015 coup.
The official decree, released last week and seen by AFP on Monday, follows a broader “amnesty pardon” announced in December for individuals implicated in the attempt to overthrow the transitional government established after Blaise Compaore’s fall.
The list of pardoned individuals includes six officers and 15 non-commissioned officers and rank-and-file soldiers.
These individuals were convicted in 2019 by a military tribunal on charges including “harming state security,” murder, and treason.
Notably absent from the amnesty are two generals, Gilbert Diendere and Djibril Bassole, considered the orchestrators of the coup, who received sentences of 20 and 10 years respectively.
The decree outlines conditions for further pardons, requiring convicted individuals to demonstrate “patriotic commitment” and a willingness to actively engage in the fight against terrorism by June.
The 21 pardoned soldiers are expected to rejoin the army, which is currently battling jihadist groups.
However, the decree specifies they will not be entitled to compensation or career advancement.
The 2015 coup attempt, led by loyalists to ousted president Compaore, resulted in 14 deaths and 270 injuries before being quelled.
The justice ministry previously indicated that around 1,200 individuals convicted in connection with the coup would be pardoned starting January 1.