Queen Nwabueze
Burkina Faso’s former President, Blaise Compaoré has received a life sentence in absentia for his role in the assassination of his predecessor, Thomas Sankara.
Sankara, then 37, was gunned down along with 12 others during the 1987 coup d’état that brought Compaoré to power.
Join our WhatsApp ChannelReportedly, the pair had been close friends and had jointly seized power in 1983.
Trouble, however, started when Sankara was lured to his death at a meeting of the ruling National Revolutionary Council, according to the prosecution.
At the announcement of the life sentence for Compaore, the entire courtroom went haywire applauding the verdict, following the six-month trial that came after years of campaigning for justice by his family and supporters.
According to 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.”
However, there is little prospect that Compaoré will serve his sentence any time soon.
He has lived in exile in Ivory Coast since he was removed from office following mass protests in 2014, and has taken up Ivorian nationality.
He previously denounced the trial by a military court as a political sham.
Ten others were also found guilty, including Compaoré’s security chief, Haycinthe Kafando, who was accused of leading the hit squad that killed Sankara.
Reports say, he has been on the run for several years and was also tried in absentia. He too received a life sentence.
Recall Gilbert Diendéré, one of the commanders of the army during the 1987 coup and the main defendant who was actually present at the trial, was also sentenced to life. He is already serving a 20-year sentence for a coup attempt in 2015.
Eight other defendants received sentences ranging from three to 20 years, while three defendants were acquitted.
Charismatic Thomas Sankara does not need any introduction even for the millennial.
While in power, Sankara was reputed to have changed the name of his country from its colonial one, Upper Volta to Burkina Faso, meaning the Land of Honest People.
He cut his own salary, and that of top civil servants, and sold off a range of luxury cars.
During his four years in power, he promoted pan-Africanism, self-sufficiency, real independence from former colonial power France and gender equality, by banning female circumcision and polygamy.
Activists in several African countries still pay tribute to him, saying they want to continue his legacy.
In 2019, a six-metre (16ft) statue of him was erected in the Burkina Faso capital, Ouagadougou.
