S’Leone accuses 12 of treason following failed coup

In response to what the authorities have described as a coup attempt on November 26, Sierra Leone on Tuesday charged 12 individuals with treason and other offences, according to a press release.

Amadu Koita was among those charged; according to the government, he was one of the coup attempt’s organisers.

A former soldier who served as former president Ernest Koroma’s bodyguard, Koita gained a large following on social media and voiced criticism of the current administration led by President Julius Bio.

Of the 85 people detained in relation to the events of November 26, he was taken into custody on December 4. The majority of those detained were members of the armed forces.

Information Minister Chernor Bah signed a press release accusing the 12 accused offenders, who included former police officers, of “treason, misprision of treason, harbouring, aiding, and abetting the enemy.”

According to the statement, eleven of them were brought before a judge in the capital city of Freetown; one accused person’s case was postponed due to illness. All of the accused were represented by solicitors.

Armed attackers engaged in gunfire with security personnel on November 26 after breaking into two barracks, two prisons, two police stations, and a military armoury.

Authorities declared a coup attempt by members of the armed forces, and hundreds of prisoners managed to escape, resulting in the deaths of twenty-one people.

Fears of another coup in West Africa, where putches have occurred in Mali, Burkina Faso, Niger, and Guinea since 2020, were aroused by the violence.