Burkinabe demand truth over influencer’s death in Ivory Coast jail

Thousands marched in Burkina Faso on Wednesday demanding “truth and justice” following the death of pro-junta influencer Alain Christophe Traore, known as Alino Faso, who died in detention in Ivory Coast amid spying accusations.

Traore, 44, was found dead last week in his cell in Abidjan, the Ivorian economic capital. He had been held since his January arrest on charges of “collusion with agents of a foreign state that could harm the military or diplomatic situation of Ivory Coast.”

Relations between the two West African neighbors have been strained since Burkina Faso’s junta leader, Capt. Ibrahim Traore, seized power in a September 2022 coup.

Burkina Faso has called for “light to be shed” on the death.

Ivorian prosecutors say Alino Faso “hanged himself with the help of his bedsheets after having tried without success to open the veins in his wrist.”

Thousands heeded a call by the National Coordination of Citizen Monitoring Associations (CNAVC) to take to the streets of the Burkinabe capital, Ouagadougou, on Wednesday, according to videos on social media and local sources who spoke with Agence France-Presse (AFP).

Demonstrators, many dressed in white, carried placards with slogans including “The Burkinabe people demand justice for Alino Faso” and “Murderer known, justice awaited. This crime will not go unpunished.”

They also chanted hostile remarks against Ivorian President Alassane Ouattara and waved Burkinabe flags.

The rally culminated outside Ivory Coast’s embassy in Ouagadougou, where the CNAVC read a statement, also posted on social media, pointing to “grey areas” in the official Ivorian version of events surrounding Alino Faso’s death.

“Alino’s death is not an individual tragedy. It’s a tragedy that affects the whole nation and calls for truth, justice and respect for human rights,” the CNAVC said.

Ivorian government spokesman Amadou Coulibaly said Wednesday that the prosecutor “would not have raised the element of suicide if he did not have sufficient evidence to say so.”

“It is simply regrettable that the death of a human being should be exploited for political purposes,” he added.

According to the Burkina information agency, Ivorian authorities conveyed their condolences Tuesday to the Burkinabe government but did not respond to a request to repatriate the body.