Bodyguard of S Leone's ex-leader jailed over failed coup
EPAA former bodyguard of Sierra Leone's ex-President Ernest Bai Koroma has been found guilty of treason and sentenced alongside 10 others over a failed coup last year.
Amadu Koita Makalo, who is also a former soldier, was sentenced to 182 years in prison on charges of treason, murder and shooting with intent to murder.
The charges followed attacks by gunmen on a military barracks and prisons last November.
It came months after a disputed election which saw President Julius Maada Bio narrowly re-elected for a second term.
More than 2,000 prisoners were freed and at least 20 people killed before the government regained control, terming the attack an attempt to overthrow the government.
Makalo, who was widely followed on social networks where he criticised the government, was accused of being among the organisers of the coup plot.
During his sentencing on Monday, a judge remarked that the former presidential bodyguard had shown no remorse throughout the trial, local newspaper Awoko reported.
“The purpose of this sentence is to serve as a deterrent for people to know that coups or attempted coups to overthrow any legitimate government is no longer accepted,” Komba Kamanda was quoted as saying.
It reported that Makalo's co-accused received between 39 and 182 years in jail.
A judicial spokesman who spoke to the AFP news agency did not specify the length of their jail terms, as the court document had not yet been stamped and signed.
At least 80 people were arrested in connection with the incident, most of them military personnel.
In January, 12 people, including former police officers, were charged with treason and other offences.
The same month, Mr Koroma, who ruled Sierra Leone for 11 years until 2018, was charged with treason in connection with the coup attempt. He denied the charges.
The former president was granted permission to travel to Nigeria on medical grounds despite the charges.
A court allowed him to be away for not more than three months, but is yet to return to Sierra Leone.
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