Thomas Sankara: ‘Charges against General Diendéré mark end of impunity’

Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso (PANA) – The Burkina Faso acting government welcomed the charges against General Gilbert Diendéré for complicity in the assassination of president Thomas Sankara in a coup in October 1987.

The government said that justice responded to a strong demand from the populations, which is the end of impunity.

Alleged leader of last September’s failed coup in Burkina Faso, General Gilbert Diendéré, already indicted for crime against humanity and several other charges, was investigated for complicity in the assassination of Thomas Sankara in 1987 in the coup that brought Blaise Compaoré in power.

In May 2015, the Burkina Faso military court ordered the exhumation of the remains of the late president and the first results delivered in November 2015 proved that it was riddled with bullets.

In October, Mr Bénéwendé Sankara (no family link), one of the lawyers of the relatives of the late president, said that a dozen soldiers from the presidential security regiments, which temporarily overthrew the transitional regime, under the command of General Gilbert Diendéré, were among those indicted in the dossier.

The acting government hailed the work of the magistrates in charge of the dossier and their commitment for the expression of truth.

 

 

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