蜜芽传媒

In 1987 the President of Burkino Faso, Thomas Sankara, was gunned down with 12 other people as part of a coup.

Nicknamed Africa's Che Guevara, he was a charismatic leader who rejected aid from the International Monetary Fund, promoted women's rights and gave his country a new name: Burkina Faso means 'the country of honest people'. Others said he was an authoritarian leader who had himself come to power through a coup.

Today sees the start of a trial of his alleged murderers, including his former friend and successor, Blaise Compaore, who will be tried in absentia from his home in exile in Cote d'Ivoire.

His widow, Mariam Sankara, told the 蜜芽传媒's Caroline Loyer how she felt about the trial finally happening.

"I'm in a hurry to know the truth. To know what the accused are going to say, to know who did what... This trial is needed so that the culture of impunity and violence that still rages in many African countries, despite the democratic facades, stop indefinitely."

(Photo: Thomas Sankara at a summit before his death. Credit: Getty Images)

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