Trial opens in Burkina Faso over killing of revolutionary hero Thomas Sankara

Fourteen men, including an ex-president, on trial 34 years after assassination of icon of pan-Africanism

The landmark trial of a former president and 14 others has begun in Burkina Faso over the assassination of Thomas Sankara, a much revered revolutionary leader killed in a 1987 coup.

Sankara, a Marxist icon of pan-Africanism widely hailed across Africa and beyond, was killed alongside 12 others by a hit-squad. His death led to his former friend Blaise Compaore assuming power - denying any role in his murder. Compaore ruled for the next 27 years before being deposed by mass protests in 2014 and fleeing to neighbouring Ivory Coast, where he is on trial in absentia.