Life sentence for Burkinabe ex-leader

Burkinabe court has sentenced former president Blaise Compaoré to life imprisonment for the murder of his predecessor, the revered Thomas Sankara.

The long-awaited verdict on Wednesday brought to a close a six-month trial about the murder of Sankara, who was assassinated during a coup led by his friend and comrade-in-arms Compaoré on October 15 1987.

A pan-Africanist leader who had taken power in 1983, Sankara was killed aged 37 along with 12 other government officials

Military prosecutors in Burkina Faso’s capital, Ouagadougou, had requested for a 30-year sentence for Compaoré, who was being tried alongside 13 others.— Al Jazeera