Sankara lawyers demand former president's extradition

Lawyers representing the family of former Burkina Faso leader Thomas Sankara, assassinated in 1987, demand former president Blaise Compaoré be extradited to serve his life sentence.

Compaoré was sentenced in absentia on Wednesday by a military court in Ouagadougou.

"If it is not a travesty of justice we want, then the state must do everything possible, while respecting the rights of convicted. We insist on this, so that this decision is carried out, if they must afterwards have the right to a pardon, to an amnesty, that it is done as per the rules, that's all...." demanded lawyer Prosper Farama.

Another lawyer, Bénéwende Stanislas Sankara, added "we have the possibility of bringing justice to bear on this side again, so for us it will be a matter of the collective of lawyers, in concert with the families, if we have to take this on, we will see it through to the end".

Blaise Compaoré is currently exiled in Ivory Coast. In 2016, the former leader acquired Ivorian citizenship.