Former Sierra Leone president under house arrest over violence

Former Sierra Leonean president Ernest Bai Koroma has been placed under house supervision in what the opposition say is house arrest following the recent violence.

Koroma was questioned on Monday 11^th December for the third time by police in Freetown about the events of 26^th November, described by the authorities as an attempted coup d’état.

On Saturday, the government had announced that Mr Koroma, who led Sierra Leone from 2007 to 2018, had been placed under a regime akin to house arrest, information disputed by one of his lawyers.

Sierrra Leone’s Minister of information had said that the former president had been released “on condition that he remains within the confines of his property (in Freetown) and that he receives a limited number of guests”.

On Monday, a large number of police officers were deployed around his residence.

According to the Sierra Leonean authorities, some of Mr Koroma’s former guards are suspected of having taken part in the unrest of 26^th November.

In the early hours of that day, men attacked a military armoury, two barracks, two prisons and two police stations.

The fighting left 21 people dead, 18 members of the security services and three assailants, according to the Minister of Information.

Africanews/Hauwa M.