Burkina Faso: Verdict on Thomas Sankara’s Assassination to be Delivered

Umm Muhammed Umar

The verdict of fourteen defendants, prosecuted in 2021 for the assassination of Burkina Faso leader, Thomas Sankara, in a coup in 1987, is to take place before the Ouagadougou military court, on April 6 2022.

Burkina Faso’s, 61-year-old General Gilbert Diendéré, reportedly one of the main army leaders during the coup, had appeared in court along with 11 others. However, the main accused, former President Blaise Compaoré, did not. According to All Africa News, Compaoré was now a refugee in Côte d’Ivoire, following a popular uprising in 2014.

All the accused were prosecuted on charges that included: attacking state security, the concealment of a corpse, and complicity in a murder. All have pleaded not guilty.

Meanwhile, Luc Damiba, Secretary General of the International Committee of the Thomas Sankara Memorial, said he was satisfied with the progress of the trial. He said, “Yes, we are satisfied after 35 years of waiting for justice.” Some one hundred witnesses and roughly twenty defence force members, as well as some civilians were heard. The court heard that a commando had left  the home of Blaise Compaoré to go to the presidential palace to await Thomas Sankara, to assassinate him.