adminOUAGADOUGOU. – Former president Blaise Compaoré was sentenced to life in prison over Sankara murder on Wenesday. The verdict comes 6 months after the trial of 14 accused (including Compaoré) in the assassination of Burkina Faso’s revered panafrican leader started.
In addition to Compaoré, the are two sentenced to life in prison. Hyacinthe Kafando suspected of having led the commando that murdered Thomas Sankara and the commander of Compaoré’s guard at the time of the events. As well as General Gilbert Diendéré, one of the army leaders in the 1987 putsch.
Blaise Compaoré is in exile in Ivory Coast since his fall whereas Hyacinth Kafando’s whereabouts are unknown since 2016.
The three men were convicted of “attack on state security”. Blaise Compaoré and Gilbert Diendéré were also found guilty of “complicity in murder” and Hyacinthe Kafando, suspected of having led the commando that killed Thomas Sankara, of “murder”.
General Diendéré the only one still in Burkina Faso is already serving a 20-year prison sentence for his involvement in a 2015 coup attempt, a year after the fall of Blaise Compaoré following a popular uprising.
They have 15 days to appeal these heavy sentences.
Prosecutors had asked the military court to find Compaoré guilty in absentia of an “attack on state security”, “concealment of a corpse” and “complicity in a murder”, accusing him of being the main sponsor behind the killing of Sankara and 12 of his colleagues.
The judges went beyond the demands of the military prosecutor’s office,. – AFP
Online Reporter