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The brother of the Burkinabé leader ousted, Blaise Compaoré, is likely to be sent home to France to be sued for the murder of a journalist, committed in 1998, after a Paris court had approved his extradition.
The French government still has to approve the decision to surrender François Compaoré, and the decision rendered Tuesday by the highest French court can be appealed to the French Council of State, which rules in constitutional matters.
Compaore was arrested in Paris in October 2017. He is wanted for murdering investigative journalist Norbert Zongo 21 years ago.
With the technical title of economic adviser but nicknamed "the little president", Compaoré was one of the most hated figures of his brother's regime, ousted during a popular uprising in October 2014 after attempting to change constitution to extend its mandate. year-grip on power.
Zongo, 49, was investigating the death of François Compaoré's driver at the time of his death and had written several powerful articles about the mismanagement of the Compaoré regime.
His burnt body and those of three companions were found in a car burned in southern Burkina Faso in December 1998.
Zongo's family has long accused Compaoré of having participated in the mbadacres, which triggered mbad demonstrations in Burkina Faso and provoked international condemnation.
The journalist's younger brother, Robert, hailed Tuesday's court decision, telling AFP in Ouagadougou that he was "convinced that Compaoré will return to Burkina Faso" from France, where he lives with his family.
"The people of Burkina Faso will always need justice in the Norbert Zongo case," Zongo said.
Abdoulaye Diallo, who runs a press center in the capital named after the late journalist, said it was "an important step" in the Compaoré judicial process, that he described as "the prime suspect" and a "sponsor of Norbert Zongo's badbadination."
Francois-Henri Briard, the lawyer of the wanted man, said that he would address the State Council if the French government gave its approval to the extradition .
"We lost a battle but we have not lost the war yet," he told AFP. "Mr. Compaore is not yet extradited."
Compaoré is wanted for "incitement" to the journalist's death.
His lawyers challenged his extradition, saying the charges against him in Burkina Faso do not exist in France and warning him that he faces the death penalty.
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