Sierra Leone has dropped treason and other charges against former President Ernest Bai Koroma, who had been accused of links to the failed coup attempt in November 2023. The government did not explain why the case was dismissed, but the move is politically significant because it removes a major legal threat hanging over a former head of state in a tense post-election climate. Koroma welcomed the decision as a victory for peace, justice and reconciliation, and thanked regional and national leaders who had supported efforts to resolve the matter.

Koroma, 72, had been under house arrest before a deal brokered by Ecowas allowed him to go to Nigeria in January 2024 for medical treatment, where he has remained in exile. The attempted coup involved armed men attacking a military armoury and prisons, releasing nearly 2,000 inmates, and about 20 people were killed. The unrest came five months after President Julius Maada Bio’s disputed re-election in June 2023, which Koroma’s All People’s Congress rejected and international observers criticised over a lack of transparency in the vote count.