A Sierra Leone court has allowed former President Ernest Bai Koroma, who is charged with treason, to travel abroad on medical grounds.
Koroma, 70, was charged early this month with four offences for his alleged role in a failed military attempt to topple the West African country’s government in November.
Koroma, 70, was charged early this month with four offences for his alleged role in a failed military attempt to topple the West African country’s government in November.
The High Court on Wednesday ruled in favour of Koroma, whose lawyers had asked it to allow the former leader a trip abroad for medical reasons.
The ex-president, who has been under house arrest, will be allowed to travel to Nigeria for no more than three months, the magistrate said before adjourning the case to March 6.
“The High Court approved the order, and that was transmitted to the Magistrate’s Court where [Koroma] has been appearing since the day investigations started into his case,” Al Jazeera’s Ahmed Idris said, reporting from the capital, Freetown.
Chernor Bah, Sierra Leone’s minister of information, told Al Jazeera the state is “happy to abide by the ruling of the court because we believe in the rule of law”, adding that Koroma is leaving for medical attention but his case remains open.
Link from www.aljazeera.com
