Former President of Burkina Faso, Blaise Compaore, has been sentenced to life imprisonment by a military tribunal for the murder of his predecessor and ‘best friend’, Thomas Sankara, in a 1987 coup.

The tribunal ruled on Wednesday that Compaore and 13 others were guilty of plotting the assassination of the Marxist revolutionary, Sankara, in the palace coup.

The charismatic and well loved Sankara was gunned down in the nation’s capital, Ouagadougou, on October 15, 1987, at the age of 37, four years after he took power in a coup d’etat.

After taking out Sankara, Compaore went on to rule for 27 years before being ousted in another coup in 2014 and fled to Ivory Coast, where he is still believed to live.

Compaore was charged in absentia along with his former head of security, Hyacinthe Kafando, who was also sentenced to life imprisonment.

Blaise Compoare and Thomas Sankara were best of friends

Both have previously denied any involvement in Sankara’s death along with 12 other defendants accused of involvement in the plot, but in delivering its verdict, the tribunal said the prosecution had proven its case beyond every reasonable doubt.

“The court finds Blaise Compaoré and Hyacinthe Kafando guilty of attack on state security, complicity in murder and concealment of a corpse,” the tribunal said in its ruling.

Sankara, a former fighter pilot, was greatly loved by Burkinabés as
he won public support in the impoverished West African nation by selling off a government fleet of Mercedes, lowering the salaries of public servants, fighting corruption and forbidding first class state travel.

He also cut his own salary, refused to work with air conditioning and jogged through Ouagadougou unaccompanied, but his critics often said his reforms had curtailed freedom and did little to enrich the ordinary people.

Thomas Sankara was well loved by Burkinabes

Every October 15, workers, students, and activists gather around with white flowers marking the spot where Sankara was shot and killed, a testimony that he is still loved.