Ex-Burkinabe leader convicted in Sankara’s murder, jailed for life

Former Burkinabe President Blaise Compaoré has been jailed for life after being found guilty in the murder case of his predecessor, Thomas Sankara.

The long-awaited verdict on Wednesday brought to close a six-month trial about the murder of Sankara, who was assassinated during a coup led by his friend and comrade-in-arms Compaoré on October 15, 1987.

Military prosecutors in Burkina Faso’s capital, Ouagadougou, had requested a 30-year sentence for Compaoré, who was being tried alongside 13 others.

Two other main suspects were also handed life imprisonment sentences. They are Gilbert Diendéré, one of the leaders of the 1987 putsch and leader of the 2015 coup, as well as Hyacinthe Kafando, leader of Compaoré’s guards at the time.

Compaore was dislodged from power in 2014 after which he fled to seek asylum in Ivory Coast where he got citizenship. The exiled former Burkinabe leader was tried in absentia.

–Aljazeera contributed to this news report