With constitution restored, trial of Thomas Sankara to proceed

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A military court in Burkina Faso ruled Monday that the long-awaited trial for the assassination of revolutionary hero Thomas Sankara, assassinated in 1987, can proceed now that the ruling military council has restored the constitution.

On Wednesday, the trial of Sankara's accused killers will resume, though it had been set to resume in the capital, Ouagadougou, on Monday. However, it was postponed after some parties urged its postponement pending the military council's "judicial normalization."

Lawyer Prosper Farama, representing the Sankara family, said earlier, "We do not want a trial (with) flaws." 

The trial began in October of last year and has been widely watched by the Burkinabe people. Sankara was a 33-year-old army captain when he ascended to power in a coup in 1983, and he is revered by African revolutionaries as well as globally.

The Marxist-Leninist revolutionary launched a struggle against imperialism and colonialism that was plaguing the continent, enraging Western leaders and colonial powers but winning admirers across Africa and beyond. 

Sankara and twelve other officials were slain by an armed group in a coup d'état staged by his old colleague Blaise Compaoré on October 15, 1987. Compaore claimed that Sankara threatened foreign relations with France, which had colonized Burkina Faso and violated the rights of its people.

Blaise Compaore grabbed power through a coup afterward. Compaore's autocratic tenure lasted for 27 years before he fled to the neighboring Ivory Coast after being overthrown by a public uprising in 2014.

After his widow accused France of masterminding his assassination, the Burkina Faso government urged the French government to reveal military papers regarding Sankara's death in 2016.

Compaore and his former right-hand man, General Gilbert Diendere, are accused of endangering state security, murdering, concealing bodies, and interfering with witnesses. Compaore has disputed long-held Burkinabe accusations that he orchestrated Sankara's assassination, while Diendere has been holding on to a "not guilty" plea.

On January 24, Burkinabe soldiers deposed Compaore's successor, Roch Marc Christian Kabore.

The soldiers then proceeded to establish a military council that disbanded the government and parliament and suspended the constitution for several days.

It had promised to restore "constitutional order" in a "reasonable time." It also promised to protect the judicial system's "independence."

Farama, the family lawyer, on the other hand, maintained that the constitution safeguarded the court's independence. He argued that court sessions should be halted because the constitution had been suspended.

Burkina Faso says constitution restored

Burkina Faso's military leaders announced Monday that the constitution has been restored, a week after the country's government was overthrown by a military coup.

In a televised address, Lieutenant-Colonel Cyprien Kabore said the Patriotic Movement for Preservation and Restoration (MPSR), which took the reins of power last Monday, would preserve "the continuity of the state pending the establishment of transitional bodies."

He read out 37 articles that the MPSR will adopt, including a "basic act" that "lifts the suspension of the constitution."