File Photo: Thomas Sankara
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EKO HOT BLOG reports that Burkina Faso’s former President Blaise Compaoré has received a life sentence in absentia for his role in the assassination of his charismatic predecessor, Thomas Sankara.
Sankara, 37, was gunned down along with 12 others during the 1987 coup d’état that brought Compaoré to power.
The pair had been close friends and had jointly seized power in 1983.
Sankara remains a hero for many across Africa because of his anti-imperialist stance and austere lifestyle.
After seizing power at the age of just 33, the Marxist revolutionary known by some as “Africa’s Che Guevara”, campaigned against corruption and oversaw huge increases in education and health spending.
The prosecution said Thomas Sankara was lured to his death at a meeting of the ruling National Revolutionary Council.
He was shot in the chest at least seven times, according to ballistics experts who testified during the trial.
The verdict was greeted by applause in the courtroom following the six-month trial that came after years of campaigning for justice by his family and supporters.
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Sankara’s widow, Mariam Sankara, who attended the trial throughout, said the verdict represented “justice and truth” after a 35-year wait.
“Our goal was for the political violence we have in Burkina Faso to come to end. This verdict will give many people cause for thought.”
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