{"id":4243,"date":"2021-04-18T19:24:46","date_gmt":"2021-04-18T19:24:46","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/umuakatimes.com\/topnews\/?p=4243"},"modified":"2021-04-18T19:24:46","modified_gmt":"2021-04-18T19:24:46","slug":"burkinabe-ex-president-compaore-charged-in-thomas-sankara-murder","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/umuakatimes.com\/topnews\/burkinabe-ex-president-compaore-charged-in-thomas-sankara-murder\/","title":{"rendered":"Burkinabe ex-President Compaore charged in Thomas Sankara murder."},"content":{"rendered":"
<\/span> 420<\/span> Views<\/span><\/div>

Military court indicts Burkina Faso\u2019s exiled former president for alleged complicity in 1987 murder of man he removed in coup, Thomas Sankara.<\/p>\n

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Thomas Sankara led his country from 1983 until his killing in a 1987 coup [File: Getty]<\/p>\n

By\u00a0Faso \u2013<\/strong> A military court in Burkina Faso\u2019s capital has indicted former President Blaise Compaore in connection to the 1987 murder of his charismatic predecessor, Thomas Sankara. A statement issued by the court on Tuesday cited \u201ccomplicity in assassination\u201d and an \u201cattack on state security\u201d by Compaore, who ruled the country until 2014, when he was forced to resign in the face of mass demonstrations against an attempt to extend his 27-year rule.<\/p>\n

Thirteen others \u2013 including Gilbert Diendere, Compaore\u2019s right hand man, and Hyacinthe Kafando, his security chief \u2013 were also indicted on charges ranging from \u201cassassination\u201d to \u201cconcealment of corpses\u201d.<\/p>\n

Benewende Stanislas Sankara, a lawyer representing the relatives of the slain former president, described the indictment as \u201ca victory and a step in the right direction\u201d.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s with a sigh of relief the family can now go ahead with all the guarantees that surround Burkinabe justice,\u201d he told Al Jazeera. \u201cWe can now calmly go to trial.\u201d<\/p>\n

Burkina Faso\u2019s communications minister said an official government statement on the indictment will likely be issued on Wednesday. Eddie Komboigo, leader of the Compaore-founded Congress for Democracy and Progress (CDP) party, declined to comment on the court\u2019s announcement. Compaore, who has been in exile in neighbouring Ivory Coast since 2014, has always denied involvement in Sankara\u2019s assassination.<\/p>\n

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Compaore was forced to resign after mass protests against his attempts to extend his 27-year rule [Lucas Jackson\/Reuters]Sankara took power in 1983, but he was killed aged 37 along with 12 other government officials during a coup led by Compaore on October 15, 1987.<\/p>\n

Many Burkinabes regard Sankara as a national hero. A prominent pan-Africanist, he is sometimes also referred to as the continent\u2019s \u201cChe Guevera\u201d, in reference to the Argentine Marxist revolutionary who led a number of armed struggles, including in Cuba. In 2015, authorities exhumed what are thought to be Sankara\u2019s remains from a grave in Dagnoen, on the outskirts of Ouagadougou. Sankara\u2019s widow said an autopsy revealed his body was \u201criddled with more than a dozen bullets\u201d.<\/p>\n

To this day, graffiti calling for \u201cJustice for Sankara\u201d is a common sight throughout the capital. \u201cIt is a matter for the Burkinabe people \u2013 and, I have to say, the African people. So this transcends Thomas Sankara\u2019s family,\u201d said Benewende Sankara.<\/p>\n

\u2018Decisive step\u2019<\/strong>Following his re-election last year, President Roch Kabore appointed a minister for national reconciliation, Zephirin Diabre, who pledged to address the issue of justice for Sankara.<\/p>\n

In 2015, Burkinabe courts had issued an international arrest for Compaore, but Ivorian President Alassane Ouattara has prevented his extradition back to Burkina Faso despite an extradition treaty between the two countries. During his election campaign in the lead-up to the November 2020 polls, Kabore had also said he would be open to Compaore returning<\/a> to the country to live out retirement.<\/p>\n

A national debate ensued over whether the former president, now 70, should face trial upon his return or be effectively pardoned in the interests of national reconciliation.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe warrant can be executed at any time if Cote d\u2019Ivoire and Burkina Faso implement the existing agreements between the two states properly,\u201d Benewende Sankara said. \u201cI must specify that it can happen very quickly.\u201d<\/p>\n

Tuesday\u2019s indictment may put further pressure on Ivory Coast to follow through on the extradition treaty. It is unclear when the trial will take place. Sankara\u2019s relatives initially brought the case to the courts in 1997. It was closed soon after, before being reopened by the country\u2019s then-transitional government in 2015.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe can say that the Sankara case has now passed all the stages needed to see judgement,\u201d Lassane Sawadogo, executive secretary of the ruling People\u2019s Movement for Progress party (MPP) told Al Jazeera.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis represents a decisive step forward for the manifestation of the truth.\u201d<\/p>\n

Umuaka Times culled this story from Al Jazeera.<\/strong><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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