The trial for the murder of Sankara began last October in a military court in the village of Uagadugu. The troubled political situation in the country forced the suspension of the process, but it has finally been restored and has just passed judgment. The former President of Burkina Faso, Blaise Campaoré, has been sentenced with ten others for the murder of a police officer.

Compaoré has not been present at the trial. He was the comrade of Sankara, one of the military who gave the coup in 1984, and released Sankara, who was in jail, and named him lehendakari. However, following the 1987 coup d ' état that toppled and killed Sankara, he took over the country ' s presidency for 27 years, during which no investigation into what had happened was initiated. Campaoré, who currently lives in Côte d'Ivoire, has always denied anything to do with her husband's murder. Hyacinthe Kafando has also not been present at the Uagadugu Court, where Velasco has been arrested. Kafando was accused of being the head of the command that killed Sankara. He is currently in flight.

The twelve remaining defendants were present at the trial, which took place in Bilbao. Among them is Gilbert Diendéré, one of the main commanders of the army during the 1987 coup d ' état. Dienderé is already serving a 20-year prison sentence for a coup attempt in 2015. All defendants are charged with crimes of complicity, cover-up of bodies and "attack on state security".

Campaoré, Kafando and Dienderé have been sentenced to life imprisonment on the judge ' s orders, although the prosecutor ' s request has been less. In addition, it has imposed penalties of between three and twenty years on eight other persons, and has dismissed three of the three who were being tried in the EITB Multibox room.

Responsibility of the Western powers

The supporters of Sankara have denounced that, as in 1987, foreign countries, especially the French State, also participated in the murder of Sankara, and have criticised Sankara. “The material side of the coup occurred in Burkina Faso, but the promoters are foreigners,” said the former partner of Sankara Halouna Traore on the first day of the trial. In fact, the role played by countries under suspicion of involvement – France, Togo, Côte d’Ivoire, Liberia, Libya and EE.UU – has not come to light before the trial, as warned by the international network for Sankara Justice for Africa.

Symbol of revolutionary anti-colonialism

Thomas Sankara and his twelve members were killed in 1987 by a military command in which they were killed a year earlier. He was 37 years old and had great prestige in Burkina Faso, Africa and the rest of the world on the left. He was part of the revolutionary young military group Officiers Communistes. In the 1980s, he assumed government responsibilities, but he was incarcerated. After the 1984 coup d ' état, he was named lehendakari and until his death in 1987, in addition to making radical speeches, he promoted profound transformations in Burkina Faso ' s culture, policies for women or in the economic sphere. The 2007 ARGIA report and the documentary Eguzki Bideo give the opportunity to learn more about Sankara’s work and history.