The Sierra Leonean government has dropped charges, including a treason charge, against former president Ernest Bai Koroma, who was implicated in an attempted coup in November 2023. The decision was made for health reasons.
Ernest Bai Koroma, 72, is now free to return to Sierra Leone "at a time of his choosing," according to Information Minister Chernor Bah. Bah confirmed that the Attorney General had filed a request to drop the charges, citing the former head of state's health.
Koroma was implicated after the attempted coup of November 26, 2023, during which armed men stormed a military arsenal and several prisons, freeing nearly 2,000 inmates. Around twenty people died in the uprising. The former president has always denied any involvement in these events.
Placed under house arrest after his indictment, Koroma was able to leave the country thanks to an agreement negotiated by the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS). He had been living in exile in Nigeria since January 2024, where he was receiving medical treatment.
In a statement released Tuesday, the former president praised "the enduring belief that peace, justice, and reconciliation must always triumph over adversity." He also thanked Sierra Leonean President Julius Maada Bio, his Nigerian counterpart Bola Tinubu, and ECOWAS for their support.
Koroma had ruled Sierra Leone for eleven years, until the election of Julius Maada Bio in 2018. The attempted coup came five months after a disputed election in which Bio narrowly won a second term. His party, the All People's Congress, rejected the results, a position shared by international observers who pointed to a lack of transparency in the vote count.
In 2024, eleven civilians and twenty-four military personnel were found guilty of involvement in the attempted coup and sentenced to long prison terms.
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