Burkina Faso junta arrests former Speaker Alassane Bala Sakandé

Burkina Faso’s security forces have arrested the former Speaker, days after he called for the immediate release of ousted President Roch Kaboré.

Alassane Bala Sakandé, who is also the leader of the former ruling party, was arrested by police at his home early on Sunday morning.

“He stands reproached for remarks he made at the news conference of his party, the People’s Movement for Progress held on 24 March,” the AFP news agency quoted his lawyers as saying.

Mr Sakandé said that the former president was not under house arrest but in detention due to the difficult conditions he had allegedly been subjected to.

The former president was deposed in January and has been held under house arrest since then.

The West African regional bloc Ecowas, which has threatened to impose further sanctions on Burkina Faso, has demanded his unconditional release.