The Government of Burkina Faso announced Friday the beginning of the protocol to bury the remains of Pan-African leader Thomas Sankara almost 40 years after his assassination with a view to the realization this month of a «dignified burial» for the Marxist revolutionary.
Thus, the Burkinabe authorities, «after having taken the necessary precautions and obtained the necessary guarantees of viability», have initiated the burial process to proceed with the funeral and subsequent burial of the mortal remains of Sankara, according to a statement reported by the Burkina24 portal.
Sankara was assassinated in 1987 along with twelve officers after being captured following a coup d’état. His body was dismembered and buried in an anonymous grave. There is a case stalled in the courts for which 14 people have been charged, including Sankara’s successor at the head of the country, Blaise Compaoré, who fled the country in 2014 amid massive protests against his intention to amend the Constitution to run for re-election.
Compaoré, sentenced to life imprisonment for his role in the assassination, eventually returned to the country in July 2022, at that time under the command of coup lieutenant colonel Paul-Henri Sandaogo Damiba, to apologize to the family of his predecessor in a «spirit of reconciliation».
The former president was not prosecuted despite the conviction and Sanaogo Damiba was eventually overthrown in a second coup in September last year; a palace coup led by the country’s now strongman, Captain Ibrahim Traoré.
Sankara and his twelve slain comrades will be buried «according to the usual funeral rites followed by religious and military ceremonies.» Subsequently, a national and international ceremony of homage to the victims will be organized on October 15, 2023 «to honor their memory».
The funeral will take place precisely at the Thomas Sankara Memorial in the country’s capital, Ouagadougou, on a day yet to be specified, according to the statement.
Source: (EUROPA PRESS)
