Prosecutors Seek 30-year Term for Compaoré in Sankara Case

Prosecutors in Burkina Faso are requesting a 30-year prison term for former President Blaise Compaoré, who is accused of complicity in the murder of revolutionary leader Thomas Sankara.

Sankara was assassinated in 1987 and a trial was launched into his killing last year, after French authorities finally agreed to release ‘military documents’ detailing the ‘circumstances’ of his death.

The 1987 coup brought Mr. Compaoré to power and he ruled for 27 years before being deposed by a popular uprising in 2014. He then fled to neighbouring Ivory Coast.

Prosecutors asked the military court, where he is supposed to stand trial, to find Mr. 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 former president was Sankara’s close friend and denies any role in his death.

The prosecution is also seeking:

30 years in jail for Hyacinth Kafando – who is suspected of having led the commando that murdered Thomas Sankara and his companions.

20 years in jail for Gilbert Dienderé – the main defendant present at the trial and one of the army commanders during the 1987 coup. He is already serving a 20-year sentence over an attempted military coup in 2015.

BBC /Shakirat Sadiq