Family of former Burkina leader wants a re-test to identify his body

The family of Thomas Sankara, former revolutionary leader of Burkina Faso killed during the coup that brought former president Compaore to power in 1987, has requested for another expert DNA test on his suspected remains.

Burkina Faso’s military prosecutor on the case commissioned by the government, Alioune Zanre, said at a press conference on Monday that three families including that of Sankara were not satisfied with the DNA test conducted in France.

“Three families including that of Thomas Sankara had expressed reservations about the expert DNA testing and called for re-testing according to the law. The judges agreed and asked them to set a deadline,” Zanre said.

Investigation into the death of Sankara was opened late March 2015, after the ousting of former president Blaise Compaore in October 2014.

The suspected body of Sankara and 12 other people with him were exhumed in late May 2015 to unravel the mystery surrounding the circumstances of their death.

DNA tests were conducted in France to confirm the identity of the bodies and in December 2015, the military court gave the families the results which indicated that the DNA was not “detectable” and thus not possible to identify for sure who the victims were.

Autopsy results on the suspected remains of Sankara delivered in October 2015 indicated that the body was “riddled with bullets”.

Ousted president Blaise Compaore is suspected to be behind the killing of his predecessor Thomas Sankara.

Exiled in Ivory Coast after his overthrow, an international warrant was issued for Compaore’s arrest in December 2015 for the charges of “murder”, “assassination” and “corpse concealment” after an investigation by Burkina Faso authorities.