Thomas Sankara came to power in a coup in 1983 and was killed on October 15, 1987. © France 24
It is a trial that almost never took place.
Thirty-four years after the assassination of the President of Burkina Faso, Thomas Sankara, and twelve of his companions, on October 15, 1987, by a commando team during a meeting at the headquarters of the National Council of the Revolution (CNR) in Ouagadougou , fourteen of the main defendants will be tried, from Monday, October 11, in a military court in the Burkinabè capital.
Coming to power in a coup d'état in 1983, President Sankara, nicknamed "African Che Guevara", was killed at the age of 37 in a putsch which brought his comrade in arms of Burkina Faso to the head of Burkina Faso. then, Blaise Compaoré.
>> To see: Thomas Sankara, an African hero
The latter remained in power for 27 years, before being overthrown following a popular uprising in 2014 and going into exile in Côte d'Ivoire.
Main accused, Blaise Compaoré, now aged 70, will not go to Ouagadougou for the trial, announced Thursday, October 7, his lawyers.
This historic event is no less expected, in Burkina Faso as elsewhere, since more than two hundred journalists from all over the world are accredited.
What does former president Thomas Sankara represent
?
"Father of the Burkinabè revolution" and Pan-African icon, Thomas Sankara has left an indelible mark in the history of his country. Coming to power during a coup d'état in 1983, he changed the name of Upper Volta, given by French settlers, to Burkina Faso, which means "the country of upright men".
"Thomas Sankara has shown that one could develop his country in complete independence by giving confidence to its population. His objective was to make the national wealth grow and transform them on the spot", underlines Bruno Jaffré, author of "The unfinished insurrection . Burkina 2014 "(Syllepse, 2019) and host of the Thomassankara.net site, contacted by France 24." Beyond Burkina Faso, it is an anti-imperialist revolutionary who was keen to represent the voice of the oppressed of the world and who dared to take acts of independence vis-à-vis France ", adds the specialist.
>> To see: Burkina Faso: the Sankara generation
Thirty-four years after his death, his aura continues to grow, especially among young people who worship him without ever having known him.
Why did it take 34 years for a trial to take place
?
"When the date of the trial was announced, the Burkinabè did not even dare to believe it", affirms Bruno Jaffré.
This is to say if the announcement of the Ouagadougou military court on August 17 had the effect of a bomb in a country where the very mention of the assassination of Thomas Sankara was long banned.
"Blaise Compaoré's regime has done everything to block legal proceedings and it was not until its fall in 2014 for this to progress," explains the Burkina Faso specialist.
It is indeed the democratic transition regime that relaunched the case in March 2015. In December of the same year, an international arrest warrant was issued against Blaise Compaoré by the Burkinabè justice.
Then, in February 2020, a first reconstruction of the assassination of Thomas Sankara takes place at the scene of the crime, at the headquarters of the National Revolutionary Council (CNR) in Ouagadougou.
The case was then referred by the investigating judge to a military court in October 2020, paving the way for a trial, which is due to start on Monday, October 11.
>> To see: Thomas Sankara: 30 years after his assassination
"But first there will be an important legal battle," warns Bruno Jaffré. "Defense lawyers will do anything to delay or even cancel the trial." These also indicate that the international arrest warrant issued against Blaise Compaoré "was canceled by the Court of Cassation of Burkina on April 28, 2016" and is therefore no longer relevant. They also assert that the former president was never "summoned for questioning" and that "no act has ever been notified to him, except his final summons to the trial court". They further indicate that Blaise Compaoré enjoys "immunity as a former head of state".
The Attorney General of the Court of Cassation, Armand Ouédraogo, had indeed announced in April 2016 the cancellation of the international arrest warrant targeting Blaise Compaoré for technicality.
But a month later, the government commissioner to the Ouagadougou military court, Alioune Zanré, denied this information, specifying that the canceled warrants only concerned the dossier of the September 2015 coup.
Asked by AFP, Guy Hervé Kam, lawyer for the civil party, considered that "the announcement of the absence of Blaise Compaoré at this trial is not surprising when we know the history of this country, the role that President Compaoré played, we know that each time, he never assumed anything ".
"What is reassuring is that at the current stage of the file, his presence is not necessary for the manifestation of the truth", he added, because "the elements which are in the file will certainly allow, at the end of the trial, to be able to situate the individual responsibility and of all the accused ".
Who are the accused
?
Fourteen of the main defendants will be tried, including Blaise Compaoré, who lives in exile in Côte d'Ivoire where he obtained Ivorian nationality.
Sankara's right-hand man, Blaise Compaoré has always denied having ordered the assassination of his brother in arms and close friend, although the coup of 1987 brought him to power.
General Gilbert Diendéré, 61, is the other main accused in this trial.
He was one of the main army chiefs during the 1987 putsch. Afterwards becoming Chief of Staff of President Compaoré, General Diendéré is already serving a twenty-year prison sentence in Burkina Faso for an attempted murder. coup d'état in 2015. He and Blaise Compaoré are accused of "complicity in assassinations", "concealment of corpses" and "attack on state security".
>> To see: Assassination of Sankara: Blaise Compaoré caught by justice?
Soldiers of the former presidential guard of Compaoré, in particular the former chief warrant officer Hyacinthe Kafando, accused of having been the commander of the commando and currently on the run, are also among the defendants.
More people were implicated initially, but "many defendants died", according to the lawyers of the civil party.
What to expect from the trial
?
While the assassination of Thomas Sankara is the subject of much speculation concerning the possible implications of foreign countries, including France, Côte d'Ivoire, Libya or Liberia, the trial which opens on Monday will focus on Burkinabè actors and on what precisely happened in Burkina Fasso.
"The absence of Blaise Compaoré at the trial is regrettable, but whether he is there or not, the question of his responsibility will be at the heart of the trial", indicates Bruno Jaffré.
In particular, the examining magistrate was able to question all the witnesses still alive who were present at the Council on the day of the assassination and who had never spoken until now.
These have already shed light on several gray areas.
>> To see: Independence of Burkina Faso: 60 years later, what results?
"Thanks to elements of the investigation which leaked to the press, we know that the commando left the house of Blaise Compaoré and that General Diendéré was present at the Council to direct the operations", underlines the specialist.
In addition to the precise sequence of the assassination, the trial will seek to shed light on the complicity, in particular those having played a role after the death of Thomas Sankara.
The death certificate of the former president drawn up by the doctor Jean Christophe Diébré for example indicated a "natural death".
The latter is being prosecuted for "forgery in public writing".
Will the question of the role played by France be addressed
?
While international ramifications will not be at the heart of the trial, France will not be completely absent from the military court in Ouagadougou.
"The investigation established that French agents were present in Burkina Faso the day after the assassination, on October 16, 1987, to destroy wiretaps targeting Blaise Compaoré and Jean-Pierre Palm, a gendarmerie officer today 'hui indicted in the Sankara affair ", details Bruno Jaffré.
Many observers believe that the regime of Thomas Sankara hampered what was called Françafrique at the time.
In addition to his emancipatory speech likely to be emulated in West Africa, he also showed his support for the inclusion of New Caledonia on the list of territories to be decolonized established by the United Nations.
>> To read: Burkina Faso: Macron promises to declassify all documents on the assassination of Sankara
Emmanuel Macron pledged in November 2017, during a trip to Burkina Faso, to lift the "defense secret" on all French archives concerning the assassination of Thomas Sankara.
Since then, three batches of declassified documents have been delivered to Ouagadougou.
But these only contain secondary documents and no document from the offices of François Mitterrand and Jacques Chirac, respectively President of the Republic and Prime Minister of France at the time of the facts.
"There is no sign of the French presence on October 16, 1987 in Ouagadougou in the documents provided so far, although these documents necessarily exist. Emmanuel Macron did not keep his promise. This clearly shows that he there is a certain embarrassment, ”says Bruno Jaffré.
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