Sankara’s Alleged Killers Go On Trial In Burkina Faso

Mural of Thomas Sankara in Ouagadougou. (Pressenza)

Thirty-four years after the assassination of revolutionary leader Thomas Sankara, the military court of Ouagadougou in Burkina Faso has begun the trial. 14 people have been accused of facilitating or ordering the murder. The star defendant is former Burkinabe President Blaise Compaore, who took power after Sankara's death and led the country until he was deposed in a 2014 uprising. 

Sankara remains extremely popular in Burkina Faso, as he represents the country’s fight against Western exploitation. The Burkinabe government hopes that the trial will deliver justice and encourage confidence in the young democracy's future.     

Sankara came to power in 1984 through a coup. He was a socialist who changed the name of the country from Upper Volta to Burkina Faso. He then embarked on a series of social and infrastructural programs that involved the construction of hundreds of miles of roads and the distribution of millions of meningitis, yellow fever, and measles vaccines to vulnerable children.

However, on October 15, 1987, a group of assassins gunned down Sankara and 12 other ministers during a meeting. Compaore seized control of the government and quickly undid many of Sankara's socialist policies, including his redistribution of land from wealthy landowners and nationalization of agriculture. Nonetheless, Compaore has continuously denied being involved with Sankara's killing and claims that Sankara's death was an accident in which he played no part.

The other 13 defendants include the former chief of Compaore's security detail, who was accused of leading the group that killed Sankara; the doctor who signed Sankara's death certificate on which he said that he died of natural causes; and four of Compaore's bodyguards at the time of the assassination. The charges are for a variety of crimes, including "attack on state security," "complicity in murder," and "concealing corpses."    

Compaore will be tried in absentia as he remains in the Ivory Coast, where he fled after his removal from power. The Sankara family has sought his extradition. A lawyer representing the family stated that Compaore's return "would be good for everyone, for the collective conscience of Burkina Faso [and] for Blaise Compaoré himself." However, Compaore gained Ivorian citizenship in 2014 through his wife, and the likelihood of extradition is extremely low as the Ivory Coast does not extradite its own citizens.

Whether Compaore faces further consequences or not, the trial is still important. Mariam Sankara, Thomas's widow, explained, "This trial is needed so that the culture of impunity and violence that still rages in many African countries, despite the democratic facade, stops indefinitely."  The chance to finally get justice after so many years is an important moment of national reconciliation.