Sierra Leone: Ex-president Koroma, 12 others charged over failed coup

January 3, 2024 1

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Sierra Leone’s ex-President Ernest Bai Koroma has been charged over last year’s a failed coup attempt, the government has said.

He is facing four offences including treason for his alleged role in the incident which occurred last November, a court in the capital Freetown said on Wednesday.

Koroma’s charges, which also include misprision of treason and two counts of harbouring, were read out to him while he stood in the dock.

Twelve others were also on Tuesday charged with treason for the failed coup that took place on November 26, 2023.

“A dangerous precedent has been set… We are dragging a former head of state – democratically elected – on trumped up charges under a political vendetta,” Koroma’s lawyer, Joseph Kamara, was quoted by Reuters as saying in reaction to Wednesday arraignment in court.

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A high court on Wednesday however granted bail to the former president, who is under a seemingly house arrest at his home in the capital. The case was adjourned until Jan. 17.

A member of the former President Ernest Bai Koroma’s security detail, Amadu Koita was among those charged.

The government had maintained that the failed coup was led mostly by Koroma’s bodyguards.

Koroma has condemned the attacks but was still summoned for questioning last December as part of the police investigation.

His daughter, Dankay Koroma, was named among 54 other wanted suspects.

Those accused appeared before a magistrate in the capital Freetown on Tuesday, the information ministry said in a statement.

“Other accused persons are expected to be charged in the coming days,” the ministry said.

Amadu Koita and 11 others have been charged with #treason and other offenses for their role in the failed coup of November 26th, 2023 in #SierraLeone. pic.twitter.com/hcduLJCqc8

— Chernor Bah (@Cee_Bah) January 2, 2024