Thirty years in prison were required Tuesday, February 8 against the former president of Burkina Faso Blaise Compaoré, accused of being the main sponsor of the assassination of his predecessor Thomas Sankara, killed with twelve of his companions during a coup of state in 1987.
Read alsoWho killed Thomas Sankara?
The military prosecution asked the court to recognize Blaise Compaoré, guilty
of "attack on state security
", "
concealment of a corpse
" and "
complicity in murder
".
Driven out of power by the street in 2014, Blaise Compaoré has since lived in Côte d'Ivoire and is the great absentee from this trial, his lawyers having denounced "
an exceptional court
".
Thirty years in prison were also required against the commander of his guard, Hyacinthe Kafando who is suspected of having led the commando which killed Thomas Sankara and his collaborators on October 15, 1987. Hyacinthe Kafando is the other major absentee from the trial , on the run since 2016. Twenty years in prison were required against General Gilbert Diendéré, one of the army leaders during the 1987 putsch and the main defendant present.
He is already serving a 20-year sentence for an attempted coup in 2015. Several prison sentences - from three to twenty years - were also required against five defendants and one of eleven years suspended.
Finally, the prosecution requested the acquittal, "
for unconstitutional facts
", for three defendants and for "
prescription
for the last two.
Twelve of the fourteen defendants were present at this trial.
The overwhelming majority pleaded not guilty.