Sierra Leone has charged 12 people with treason and other offenses for their roles in what authorities have called an attempted coup on November 26, a news release said.
Amadu Koita, who the government claims was one of the organizers of the coup attempt, was among those indicted.
Koita, a former soldier and bodyguard for former President Ernest Bai Koroma, was widely followed on social media networks, where he opposed current President Julius Maada Bio’s leadership.
He was arrested on December 4 and is one of 85 people arrested in connection with the November 26 incidents, the majority of whom are military personnel.
According to a news statement signed by Information Minister Chernor Bah, the 12 suspected perpetrators were charged with “treason, misprision of treason, harbouring, aiding, and abetting the enemy,” among other things.
Eleven of them were brought before a judge in the capital Freetown, with the case of one of the accused postponed due to illness, the statement said, adding that all had legal representation.
On November 26, armed attackers stormed a military armory, two barracks, two prisons and two police stations, clashing with security forces.
Twenty-one people were killed and hundreds of prisoners escaped before authorities were able to regain control after what they deemed a coup attempt by members of the armed forces.
The violence sparked fears of another coup in West Africa, where Mali, Burkina Faso, Niger and Guinea have all experienced putsches since 2020.
