Norbert Zongo (31 July 1949 – 13 December 1998), also known under the pen name Henri Segbo or H.S., was a Burkinabé investigative journalist who managed the newspaper L'Indépendant in Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso.

[1][2][3][4] Norbert Zongo was born in the Koudougou region, French Upper Volta on 31 July 1949 into the Gnougnoossi family, a prominent subset of the Mossi people.

His first novel Le Parachutage was a thinly disguised political critique of Togo's President Gnassingbé Eyadema set in the post-colonial era.

[11] In 1996, he began investigating a series of fraud and graft cases involving several mining and manufacturing companies with ties to top political officials and President Blaise Compaoré's family.

[12] In December 1997, a suspicious disappearance and possible murder of David Ouedraogo, the driver of François Compaoré (President Blaise Campaoré's brother), prompted Zongo to investigate.

[7] On December 13, 1998, four bodies were found shot and burned in a Toyota Land cruiser on the side of the road in Sapouy, Ziro Province.

Marcel Kafando, Edmond Koama and Ousseini Yaro, who are also suspects in the Norbert Zongo case, were convicted and sentenced to lengthy prison terms.

Businessman Oumarou Kanazoé [fr], who had also been implicated in documents brought forward by Reporters Without Borders,[21] died in October 2011.

[25][14] In 2006, Zongo's case was determined closed with no one found guilty, which enraged civil rights defenders and citizens of Burkino Faso.

After 17 long years, the family, friends, and colleagues of Norbert Zongo deserve a thorough and transparent investigation leading to full justice.

"[16] Reporters Without Borders' head of its Africa desk, Cléa Kahn-Sriber, said, "This ruling constitutes a major turning-point in the Zongo case, which has suffered appallingly from the impunity tolerated for all these years by Burkina Faso's justice system.

"[32] The Independent Commission of Inquiry released the following statement: "Norbert Zongo was assassinated for purely political motives because he practiced investigative journalism.

He defended a democratic ideal and had chosen to become involved, with his newspaper, in the struggle for the respect of human rights and justice, and against the poor management of the public sector and impunity.