Doesn\t Matter Who Supplied The Gun, It\s Who Pulled The Trigger Thomas Sankara, the revolutionary leader of Burkina Faso, was assassinated on October 15, 1987, during a coup led by his former close ally Blaise Compaoré. Compaoré, who took over as president after Sankara's death, initially claimed Sankara died in an accidental firefight, but later evidence pointed to a premeditated assassination.

In April 2022, a Burkinabé court found Blaise Compaoré, along with 12 others, guilty of Sankara’s murder. Compaoré, who had been in exile in Ivory Coast since his ousting in 2014, was sentenced in absentia to life in prison.

Many believe foreign powers, particularly France and Côte d’Ivoire, had a role in the coup due to Sankara’s radical policies and anti-imperialist stance. However, direct foreign involvement remains a subject of debate.