Sierra Leone charges ex-President Ernest Bai Koroma with treason following coup attempt News
President's Malaria Initiative, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons
Sierra Leone charges ex-President Ernest Bai Koroma with treason following coup attempt

Sierra Leone prosecutors charged former President Ernest Bai Koroma with treason and other crimes on Wednesday for his alleged involvement in a failed military coup that took place on November 26, 2023. The announcement of the charges against Koroma comes a day after 12 other individuals, including Koroma’s former bodyguard, were charged with similar offenses.

According to the notice released by the Ministry of Information and Civic Education of Sierra Leone, Koroma was charged with treason, misprision of treason and two counts of harboring before a magisterial court in Freetown, Sierra Leone’s capital. An application for bail was immediately filed and granted by the High Court on the same day, on the conditions that:

  1. A maximum of 10 people should be at his residence at every given time including his wife, children, lawyers and members of his political party;
  2. He should not leave his house without the expressed permission of the Inspector-General of Police;
  3. Only the National Chairman and National Deputy Chairman of his party are allowed to visit him;
  4. All visits to his residence should be permitted by the Inspector-General of Police; and
  5. He should provide 2 sureties who should be senior citizens resident in the Western Area of the Republic of Sierra Leone.

Along with Koroma, there were 12 other former officials, including Koroma’s bodyguard, ex-police and correctional officers, charged on Tuesday for their alleged roles in the failed coup. The charges include treason, misprision of treason, harboring, aiding and abetting the enemy.

The attempted coup on November 26, 2023, saw several gunmen launch attacks on various critical locations in Freetown, including the military armory at Wilberforce Barracks and a prison. Approximately 2,200 inmates were freed and more than 20 people were killed during in the movement. After the attacks, Sierra Leone’s incumbent President Julius Maada Bio declared a nationwide curfew with immediate effect on November 26. He also announced the arrest of most of the attack’s leaders and ordered investigation of the attacks. 

After the attacks took place, Koroma strongly condemned the “grave breaches of state security” on November 27. He stated that “any actions, events and pronouncements that threaten to undermine the political and social stability of the state should have no place in a democracy.” He also urged for calm and for all stakeholders to prioritize the wellbeing and stability of the nation.

However, the Inspector General of Police in Freetown summoned Koroma on December 7 for the investigation of the disturbances. Denying all association with the November 26 event, he decided to “honour” the police investigation and reported to the police on December 8.

A December 14 statement of the Brenthurst Foundation Advisory Board, to which Koroma is a member, said that the incumbent government was “rightly concerned” at the November 26 event as there had been a series of assaults on elected government by unelected military assailants in West Africa lately. Nevertheless, the board expressed equal concerns on the investigation turning into a “witchhunt, which is what is taking place with the summoning of former president Koroma by the police.”

Koroma’s case has been adjourned until January 17, at which point the state is ready to call witnesses. Under the law of Sierra Leone, a person convicted of treason could be sentenced to life imprisonment. 

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