A military tribunal in Burkina Faso has sentenced former President Blaise Compaore to life imprisonment for the murder of his predecessor the revered Thomas Sankara in 1987.
Compaore, who is in exile, was tried in absentia, according to the BBC.
His former head of security, Hyacinthe Kafando, was also sentenced to life imprisonment.
The long-awaited verdict brings to close a six-month trial about the murder of Sankara who was assassinated on October 15, 1987.
Military prosecutors had requested a 30-year sentence for Compaoré, who was being tried alongside thirteen others.
Mr. Sankara, a Marxist revolutionary, was gunned down by a group of armed men in the capital, Ouagadougou. Compaore then ruled for 27 years before being ousted in 2014.