The former president of Burkina Faso, Blaise Compaoré, was sentenced, Wednesday April 6, to life imprisonment in the case of the assassination of his predecessor Thomas Sankara, killed in 1987 with twelve of his companions.
Life imprisonment was also pronounced, by the Ouagadougou military court, for two former senior officers of the Burkinabè army, in particular the former commander of Compaoré’s guard, Hyacinthe Kafando, and General Gilbert Diendéré, one of the chiefs of the army at the time.
All three are sentenced for “attack on state security”, in addition to “complicity in assassination” for Compaoré and Dienderé and “assassination” for Kafando.
If Diendéré was able to take part in the trial, the other two were absent. Compaoré has lived in exile in Ivory Coast since 2014 and Kafando fled the country in 2016.
The court decided on heavier sentences than those recommended by the military prosecutor’s office, in particular 30 years in prison for Compaoré and Kafando and 20 years for Diendéré. The prosecution had retained as grievances, the attack on state security, the concealment of a corpse, and complicity in assassination.
Eight other defendants were sentenced to between three and 20 years in prison, and three were acquitted by the court.
It took almost 34 years for this verdict to fall; the said verdict hailed by many people and particularly by those close to Sankara, including his widow who said she was “relieved”. Lawyers have 15 days to appeal the court’s decision.
The sentence coincided with the day of the release of President Roch Marc Christian Kaboré who was still under “house arrest” since the overthrow of his regime in a coup four months ago.
“The government of Burkina Faso informs national opinion that after the consultations started a little over three weeks ago with the former President of Burkina Faso, Roch Marc Christian Kaboré, it has been decided that he will join this Wednesday 06 April 2022 his home in Ouagadougou,” said government spokesman Lionel Bilgo. The government reassured that “measures are being taken to guarantee his safety”.
This release was demanded by the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) and demanded, among others, by the People’s Movement for Progress (MPP), Kaboré’s political party.
By OMA Newsletter N° 659 of 07/04/2022
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