AA / Ouagadougou / Dramane Traoré
Former Burkinabè President Blaise Compaore’s party, the Congress for Democracy and Progress (CDP), said the Sankara trial was the result of a desire to “erase the work” of Compaore.
“Burkinabe justice has not succeeded in a fair, truthful, reparative and hopeful trial for our people. This trial is the conclusion of a hateful, revengeful and political battle of thirty-five years that does not honor any actors,” the CDP said in its statement released on Saturday evening.
For this political formation, of which former President Compaoré, who has lived in exile since his fall in 2014, remains the honorary president, this trial, which began on October 11, 2021 after several years of negotiation “is the result of a desire to erasing the work and the charismatic personality of President Blaise Compaoré and his faithful comrades (…) in particular General Gilbert Diendéré”, also sentenced to life imprisonment.
The CDP added that “this trial does not take part in the national reconciliation process so much hoped for by our people, in order to turn the page on the painful events of its history and turn resolutely towards other challenges”.
In this trial, eight other defendants were sentenced to terms ranging from three to twenty years in prison while three defendants were acquitted.
The CDP explained that with this verdict, the reconciliation of hearts seems definitively buried in the meanders of “revenge” and that Burkinabè justice “condemns our people to wander permanently on the path of seeking forgiveness and other paths to reconcile all his children”.
“The CDP urges all the daughters and sons of Burkina Faso, without distinction of any kind, in a patriotic spirit, to move courageously and resolutely towards the paths of genuine national reconciliation and the rebuilding of our Nation”, concluded the party that has managed state power in Burkina Faso for more than 27 years.
The day after the verdict of this trial, the collective of lawyers of the Sankara family, declared Thursday, during a press conference, that it intended to tackle now the international aspect of this file.
But before, on April 13, the trial will focus on civil interests.
On October 15, 1987, Thomas Sankara fell under the bullets of a commando during a coup after which his friend and principal adviser, and number two in the regime, Captain Blaise Compaoré took power.
The responsibility of certain African capitals and Western powers in this assassination, in particular France, has been mentioned several times, but to date, there is no evidence of such involvement.
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