The long-awaited trial for the murder of Thomas Sankara – assassinated in a coup d’etat which brought exiled former president Blaise Compaore who now lives in Cote d’Ivoire, where he fled after he was ousted in 2014 during a popular uprising to power – has been set for October 11, military prosecutors have announced.
The proceedings, which will be held in public, will begin at 9 am local time. It has taken 34 years for the case to finally come to court. Guy Hervé Kam, one of the lawyers representing families of victims, told RFI it was a victory and “a time for truth” for the families.
Compaore and 12 others face charges of harming state security, complicity in murder, and complicity in the concealment of corpses. Among those accused alongside Compaore is General Gilbert Diendere, Compaore’s former right-hand man and a former head of the elite Presidential Security Regiment (RSP) at the time of the coup.
The former Burkina Faso leader, Compaore now 70, would be tried in absentia if he fails to present himself.
