The exiled former president of Burkina Faso, Blaise Compaoré, must be tried in absentia for the assassination of Thomas Sankara, one of Africa’s most respected leaders after independence who was assassinated in a 1987 coup.
Sankara, a Marxist, a pan-African leader, was assassinated after four years in power and succeeded by his former friend Compaoré, who repeatedly denied involvement. Compaoré then became one of Africa’s longest-running leaders and ruled Burkina Faso for 27 years.
The former president has been in exile in Ivory Coast since 2014, when he was ousted from power by mass protests sparked by his attempt to extend his term.
The trial is a key point in a 34-year-old quest for justice, led by Sankara’s family and supported by many in Burkina Faso.
While in power, Compaoré denied calls to deny Sankara’s remains, but the country’s transitional government reopened the investigation in 2015. In 2016, Burkinabé authorities issued an international warrant for the arrest of Compaoré, but the Côte d’Ivoire authorities rejected the extradition requests for the former president. has since become a citizen of Côte d’Ivoire.
Compaoré and 13 others are facing charges of complicity in the murder and concealment of the body of Sankara and several assistants killed next to him.
Guy Hervé Kam, a lawyer for the Sankara family, welcomed the news. “The time for justice has finally come. A trial can begin. “It will be up to the military prosecutor to set a date for the trial,” he told AFP.
Among the other accused is Gilbert Diendéré, the former right-hand man and military general of Compaoré, who was at the head of the elite Presidential Security Regiment during the coup.
Diendere was in jail in Burkina Faso serving a 20-year sentence for a 2015 coup attempt against the country’s transitional government.
A date for the trial has not been confirmed, but a lawyer for the former general said it could start soon. Some of the suspects have since died.
Sankara, known as the African Che Guevara, came to power in 1983 after an internal power struggle following a coup. At 33, he was one of the youngest leaders in modern African history.
Its radical program of nationalization, redistribution of land and social welfare is seen as transformative, over a four-year rule of one of the poorest countries in the world.
The leap in the provision of education and health care, social reforms to end polygamy and female genital mutilation, his fierce support for independence from colonial rule in Africa and the denial of aid from Western financial institutions such as the IMF and the World Bank have yearling for many enchanted on the continent.
His administration has also been criticized for curtailing press freedom and political opposition in the country before he was assassinated. In 2017, French President Emmanuel Macron said France would declassify government documents regarding the assassination of Sankara, after years of criticism of the role played by the former colonial ruler.
Lawyers for Sankara’s family indicated that several documents had been sent to the judges of Burkinabé, but it did not disclose.
In Burkina Faso, Sankara’s reputation has only grown since his death amid widespread impoverishment. Since 2015, jihadist insurgency, which has spread across the Sahel from Mali, has killed more than 1,200 people and displaced more than a million people.
He is also honored across Africa, a young continent where presidents have increasingly changed their constitution and tried to maintain their rule.