Sierra Leone: 57 arrests after attempted coup

The Sierra Leonean government announced on Monday 43 new arrests in connection with the November 26 coup attempt, bringing to 57 the number of people arrested since these events, the vast majority of them military personnel.

The latest figures published, on November 28, showed 14 people arrested, including 13 soldiers and one civilian.

“Fifty-seven people have been arrested since the failed coup,” including 43 during the last weekend, declared the deputy minister in charge of Information, Yusuf Keketoma Sandi, on state radio, without specifying the location and circumstances of these arrests.

These 57 people are 37 soldiers, 10 civilians, four soldiers dismissed from the army, five active police officers and one retired, detailed Mr. Sandi. The names of the leaders of the coup have not been disclosed.

Sierra Leonean President Julius Maada Bio promised on Saturday that the response to the events would be dictated by "respect for the law".

In the early hours of November 26, men attacked a military armoury, two other barracks, two prisons and two police stations, and clashed with security forces at gunpoint.

The fighting left 21 dead: 14 soldiers, a police officer, a prison guard, a security guard, a woman and three attackers, according to Information Minister Chernor Bah.

The West African region has been marked since 2020 by the multiplication of coups d'état, in Mali, Burkina Faso, Niger and Guinea. On Saturday evening, Guinea-Bissau President Umaro Sissoco Embalo also denounced an "attempted coup d'état" after clashes between security force units during the night from Thursday to Friday.