A military tribunal has sentenced Blaise Compaoré, former
president of Burkina Faso, to life imprisonment for the murder of Thomas
Sankara, his predecessor.
The tribunal delivered its judgement on Wednesday.
“The court finds Blaise Compaoré and Hyacinthe Kafando
guilty of attack on state security, complicity in murder and concealment of a
corpse,” the tribunal said in its ruling.
The former president was charged in absentia alongside
Hyacinthe Kafando, his former head of security, who was also sentenced to life
imprisonment.
Compaoré and Kfando have previously denied any involvement
in Sankara’s death along with 12 other defendants accused of involvement in the
plot.
Three of the defendants were declared innocent by the court.
Sankara was assassinated in a coup led by Compaoré on
October 15, 1987.
He was gunned down in Ouagadougou, the country’s capital, at
the age of 37 — four years after he took power through a coup.
Sankara assumed office with great promise, vowing to thwart
corruption and post-colonial influences, while also denouncing foreign aid as a
control mechanism.
During his time in office, he won public support for his
efforts to improve the economy and his promotion of policies to reduce
excessive spending by public officials.
After succeeding Sankara, Compaoré went on to rule for 27
years before being ousted in a 2014 coup following his attempt to amend the
constitution to extend his tenure.
He subsequently fled to Ivory Coast where he was given
citizenship.
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