The trial of 14 men and a Burkina Faso former President Blaise Compaore begin over the killing of the country’s revered revolutionary leader Thomas Sankara 34 years ago.
Compaore and 13 others in the trial opening on Monday face charges in the death of Sankara, described by his followers as the African Che Guevara. The killing of Sankara has for years cast a dark shadow over the Sahel state.
Sankara and 12 others were killed by a hit squad in October 1987 during a coup that brought his friend and comrade-in-arms Compaore to power.
Compaore ruled the country for the next 27 years before being deposed by a popular uprising and fleeing to neighbouring Ivory Coast, which granted him citizenship.
The Burkina Faso former President and General Gilbert Diendere, who once headed the elite Presidential Security Regiment, face charges of complicity in homicide, harming state security and complicity in the concealment of corpses.
