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April 14, 2021

Burkina Faso to Try Ex-President Blaise Compaoré for Murder of Iconic Leader Thomas Sankara
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In Burkina Faso, authorities have charged exiled former President Blaise
Compaoré with the murder of Thomas Sankara, who was killed in a 1987
coup. Sankara was a revered leader, an anti-colonialist Marxist who
enacted popular social programs and was dubbed the "African Che
Guevara." Compaoré succeeded Sankara, his one-time close friend, and was
eventually ousted decades later in a popular uprising in 2014. He will
be tried in absentia.


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