Donsin airport trial: Defendants convicted, the state cleared

The defendants were convicted and Eta cleared by the High Court (TGI) of Ziniaré which delivered its verdict on Wednesday in the context of the trial of the collapse of the slab at Donsin airport, having killed seven people in December 2022.

Five defendants were convicted of the acts of manslaughter and involuntary injury, in the so-called Donsin airport case.

They are Brahima Abraham Tou, head of the control firm MEMO SARL; Dieudonné Soudré, works executive director, Gildas Olive Amoussou, works manager, Benjamin Yaovi Lokossou civil engineering technician and Joseph Traoré.

They were sentenced to prison terms of 12 months including 2 months firm and to fines ranging from 250,000 to 2 million FCFA. However, the convicts must pay jointly to the victims, between 2,000,000 and 20,000,000 FCFA.

As for the lawsuits brought against the group of companies GESEB SA and COGEA International and MEMO SALR and EXCEL Ingénierie, the TGI of Ziniaré declared them “void”, because, according to him, the said companies do not have legal personality.

At the end of the verdict, Me Moumouni Gnessien, lawyer for Dieudonné Soudré and the GESEB/COGEA group, considered that the judge’s decision was against his client and promised to appeal. It will be the same for Brahima Abraham Tou, according to his adviser Me Seydou Roger Yamba.

The Burkinabè State, prosecuted for the same leaders, is also whitewashed. “We have pleaded for the State to be exonerated (…) because the State has not committed any fault likely to allow it to incur criminal liability (…).

He cannot be held responsible for the facts of involuntary homicides, involuntary injuries”, explained Karfa Gnanou, State judicial agent who said that he took the decision of the Court “with great satisfaction”.

Seven people were killed and ten others injured in the collapse of a slab at Donsin airport in December 2022.

Source: Burkina Information Agency