rki.news | Sources Xinhua
FREETOWN, Sept. 7: Former Sierra Leonean President Ernest Bai Koroma returned to Freetown Sunday after criminal proceedings against him over an alleged coup attempt were dropped, according to local authorities.
Koroma, 72, arrived from Nigeria accompanied by former Nigerian President Olusegun Obasanjo and was received by Sierra Leone’s Foreign Affairs Minister Mohamed Rahman Swaray.
The government dropped the proceedings in July, ending a legal case linked to a failed coup attempt in November 2023.
Koroma had been charged with treason and placed under house arrest after gunmen attacked a military barracks and two prisons in Freetown, freeing more than 2,200 inmates. At least 21 people, including 14 soldiers, were killed in clashes.
Authorities had alleged that the attackers were backed by Koroma, a claim he denied.
Koroma served as president from 2007 to 2018. He was later granted bail on medical grounds and allowed to travel to Nigeria in January 2024.
Sierra Leone ex-president returns after treason case dropped
