A Sierra Leonean court condemns troops to lengthy prison terms for an attempted coup

24 soldiers were given hefty jail sentences by a military court in Sierra Leone for their participation in the unsuccessful effort to topple President Julius Maada Bio’s administration in November of last year.

The judge handed out prison terms ranging from 50 to 120 years to those found guilty, reading down the punishments late on Friday in court.

They were among the 27 individuals who were court-martialed for their roles in the attempted coup on November 26, during which gunmen stormed two jails, a military barrack, and other facilities, liberating over 2,200 prisoners and killing over 20.

The sentencing comes after 11 citizens, police, and prison officials were imprisoned in July for their involvement in the uprising.

After hours of discussion, a jury consisting of seven military members unanimously declared the majority of the court-martialed troops guilty. The soldiers were charged with eighty-eight crimes, including murder, mutiny, assisting the enemy, and theft of goods used for public or private use.

All except one of the individuals charged were regular troops. After being found guilty, a lieutenant colonel was given the maximum sentence of 120 years in jail.

Judge Advocate Mark Ngegba, a former military commander himself, stated, “when we reach this conclusion for sentences it is to send a message of zero tolerance for such an act in the military,” before to imposing the punishments.

Three were left; one was found not guilty, another was sentenced early after entering a guilty plea, and the third’s trial is scheduled to end at a later time.

Inside the courtroom, relatives of the guilty wept as the punishments were announced.

The unsuccessful effort came after President Bio barely secured a reelection to a second term. The largest opposition party, the APC, contested his win, and a number of domestic and foreign observers questioned the vote’s transparency.