10 Coup Plotters Sentenced to Death in Sierra Leone
Ten men charged with plotting to overthrow Sierra Leone’s government last year were convicted Monday of treason and sentenced to death by hanging.
Friends and relatives of the condemned men wailed and wept outside the heavily guarded court gates after the 11-man jury found the defendants guilty and the judge ordered them to the gallows.
The 10, including ex-army officers and rebels who fought during Sierra Leone’s brutal 1991-2002 war, have 21 days to appeal.
Another defendant was given 10 years in prison on a lesser, related charge.
Security forces captured the men after a Jan. 13, 2003, shootout at a military base in what prosecutors called an attempt to capture weapons to try to overthrow President Ahmad Tejan Kabbah’s government.
In 2002, Sierra Leone held elections signaling its recovery from the civil war launched by rebels.
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