Madar (Ouagadougou) - Burkina Faso's Legislative Assembly of the People (ALP) on Tuesday, October 20, 2026, unanimously adopted, with all 71 members voting, a new penal code reinstating the death penalty, which the country abolished on May 31, 2018, according to the news site lefaso.net.
Justice and Human Rights Minister Edasso Rodrigue Bayala, who defended the bill before lawmakers, said the reform aims to strengthen public order and fight terrorism and economic and financial crime, noting that terrorist groups recruit by telling candidates they "do not risk much" if arrested.
Under the new code, capital punishment will apply to several terrorism-related offences, to espionage and treason, and to importing expired or prohibited products when this causes death, for both perpetrators and accomplices.
The code also provides for life imprisonment for embezzlement above a certain amount, with a fine of three times the sum embezzled, and toughens road-safety penalties, which the minister described as the leading cause of death in Burkina Faso.
