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Sierra Leone has withdrawn treason charges against former President Ernest Bai Koroma over his alleged involvement in an attempted coup in 2023.
Koroma, who served as president from 2007 to 2018, was charged with treason and other offences in January 2024.
Later that month, he travelled to Nigeria after receiving permission from judicial authorities to spend up to three months there for medical treatment. He did not return to Sierra Leone after the approved period elapsed.
In a statement issued on Tuesday, Sierra Leone’s Office of the Attorney General and Minister of Justice announced that it had “filed a notice to discontinue the criminal proceedings” against the former president.
The statement added that Koroma “is therefore free to return to Sierra Leone upon the completion of his medical treatment or at any time of his choosing.”
The government did not give a reason for dropping the charges, although political observers believe the decision is intended to foster national unity.
In November 2023, armed assailants attacked a military armoury, two military barracks, two prisons and two police stations, clashing with security forces.
At least 21 people were killed, and hundreds of inmates escaped before authorities regained control, describing the violence as an attempted coup involving members of the armed forces.
More than 80 people, most of them military personnel, were arrested in connection with the attacks.
