Former Burkina Faso President Blaise Compaore is accused of murdering his predecessor Thomas Sankara in 1987, CNN reports.

Sankara, a charismatic Marxist revolutionary often referred to as the 'Africa's Che Guevara', was killed in a coup led by his former friend Compaore.

Compaore ruled Burkina Faso for 27 years before being exiled in the 2014 uprising and fled to Côte d'Ivoire, where he is believed to still reside. The military tribunal accused Compaore of complicity in the murder, undermining state security.