Perpetrators of crimes, whether they are common criminals or powerful people, thrive where there are no repercussions.
A week ago, former Burkina Faso president Blaise Compaoré was sentenced in absentia to life in prison over his role in the assassination of Thomas Sankara, one of the greatest revolutionaries that ever lived.
When the sentences for Sankara’s killers were handed down, after a charged trial that had begun in late 2021, the courtroom burst into applause. Across the world, the announcement of the news was met with mixed emotions. For some, the wheels of justice had turned far too slowly. To them, justice delayed is justice denied. Others felt that sentencing the men almost four decades after the fact was pointless. All the men are in their golden years.