Former leader of Sierra Leone departs amid accusations of treason

Sierra Leone’s old leader is going to Nigeria for medical care even though he is supposed to be on trial for his part in a coup attempt last year.

The High Court gave Ernest Bai Koroma permission to leave for up to three months on Wednesday.

The president of Sierra Leone said this is a “kind act to help people in need”.

Many people think that Mr. Bai Koroma has agreed to leave the country and go into exile.

He will go to trial for betraying his country in March.

Mr Bai Koroma was the leader of Sierra Leone for 11 years until 2018. Then, President Julius Maada Bio was elected.

A plane from Nigeria with the ex-president on board was spotted leaving the airport in Freetown on Friday afternoon.

There are rumors that Ecowas has made a deal with Sierra Leone so the 70-year-old can go to Nigeria to help calm things down after the trouble in November.

In a speech on TV, President Julius Maada Bio said the decision about his predecessor is up to the courts.

“The courts have allowed the former President to leave the country for medical reasons, and his trial will be paused while he is away,” President Bio said. He also reassured that this decision does not lessen the significance of the trials, and shows that they are focused on uncovering the truth about the events of November 26, not on politics.

The attack happened when armed people broke into a military base and prisons, and let around 2,000 prisoners go free, according to the authorities. At least 21 people died in the fighting.

The government said it was an attempt to overthrow it, and more than 80 people were arrested in the following weeks – many of them were from Sierra Leone’s military.

The daughter of the ex-president, Dankay Koroma, has been listed as a suspect in the police investigation of the failed coup. She has not said anything.

A group of people tried to take over the government five months after the president was re-elected in a close election.

Mr Koroma’s All People’s Congress did not accept the results. Foreign observers also said the elections were not fair because the vote counting process was not clear.