34 Years after Sankara’s Assassination, The Leaders of the Coup on Trial in Burkina Faso

The former president of Burkina Faso, Blaise Compaore, is on trial 34 years after the assassination of the African icon Thomas Sankara on October 15, 1987 during the coup against him.

Sankara remains an icon across Africa, where he is sometimes referred to as "the African Che Guevara", according to the French newspaper Le Parisien.

Thomas Sankara took over the reins of what was then called Upper Volta through a coup d'état on August 4, 1983, at the age of 33.

"Home of the Upright Men"

Sankara, the army chief proclaimed a "democratic and popular revolution" and renamed the former French colony of Burkina Faso "The home of upright men."

Having his own vision of democracy, Sankara said at the time: "Democracy is inconceivable without returning power in all its forms to the hands of the people. Economic, military, political, social and cultural power."

Yet, the utopia does not last for long. Four years later, in 1987, Sankara and 12 of his comrades were assassinated by a commando during a meeting of the Council of Accord (the headquarters of the National Revolutionary Council).

His brother-in-arms Blaise Compaore succeeded him in power. The shadow man and the latter's right hand was General Gilbert Dendari, who is suspected of organizing the commando action.

Like all putschists, he is currently serving a 20-year prison sentence in Burkina Faso for the 2015 coup attempt.

Thomas Sankara was buried on the evening of his assassination in the cemetery of Danion (eastern suburb of Ouagadougou), which became a place visited by his supporters, who are still large in number.

In 1990, his widow, Mariam, moved with her two children to Montpellier, in the south of France. Blaise Compaore was elected President of the Republic in 1991 after a disputed ballot, boycotted by the opposition.

Internationally, Sankara's policy aligns with the alternative globalization movement, as much as it is critical of globalization's grievances.

In the 1980s, Many of the Third World countries faced a "debt crisis". To solve this crisis, the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank are imposing austerity plans on governments that do not conform to any social policy.

A situation that the leader of Burkina Faso strongly protested, especially in his famous speech in the Land of the Upright Men.

Hope for Trial

In 1997, shortly before the enaction of the statue of limitations, a complaint was filled against an “unidentified person” in the name of his children for “intentional murder.” Sankara's family demands that the body be taken out to verify that it is indeed his.

At the time, the Compaoré regime refused to open an investigation. Sankara remained a taboo during the 27 years of Blaise Compaore's rule, which was finally overthrown in October 2014 by a popular uprising.

The case was reopened before the court in light of the democratic transition, and the Burkina Faso court issued an arrest warrant for the former president on March 7, 2016.

But Blaise Compaore, exiled in Ivory Coast where he obtained his citizenship, cannot be extradited.

The bodies of Sankara and his companions, were exhumed in May 2015 for DNA testing, in an attempt to identify the victims and reveal the circumstances of their deaths. Despite analyzes carried out in France and then in Spain, it was not possible to ascertain their identity.

In 2017, French President Emmanuel Macron promised that French documents relating to Sankara's assassination would be "declassified".

According to the lawyer of the Sankara family, a large batch of these documents were referred to justice in Burkina Faso, which did not transmit the content.

In February 2020, a re-enactment of the assassination took place at the crime scene. During April 2021, the case was referred to the military court in Ouagadougou, after confirming the charges against the main defendants.

They are Blaise Compaore, General Gilbert Denderi, and soldiers of the former Presidential Guard, including the actual fugitive ex-NCO who was the commando leader. The trial will undoubtedly be a milestone, according to the newspaper.