Coup leader and plotters to face military trial in Burkina Faso

Gilbert Diendere, the general who led a short-lived coup against the interim government in Burkina Faso, will face trial before a military court, along with other plotters. Details here. Excerpts:

Under Burkina Faso's penal code, the coup plotters could be sentenced to death if convicted by a military court.

However, Hamado Dipama believes this is unlikely. "I don't think he (General Diendere) will be given the death penalty as stipulated by the law," he said. 

At least 11 people were killed and 271 injured in protests triggered by the coup. Tensions soared on Tuesday as some members of the RSP [presidential guard] refused to disarm, sparking a standoff with the army at the regiment's barracks which ended when the coup plotters abandoned their base after sustaining heavy weapons fire.