The decision by the Sierra Leonean courts to vary the bail conditions for the country’s former president, Ernest Bai Koroma, which would see him travel abroad for medical checks, has sparked mixed reactions across the entire political spectrum in the country. The decision comes amidst attempts by regional political leaders and ECOWAS to secure an exit for the former president from his current legal entanglement, facing treason allegations for the failed November 26 coup attempt.
According to reports from Sierra Leone, the High Court varied the bail conditions of former President Dr. Ernest Bai Koroma to allow him travel out of the jurisdiction to seek medical attention.
The former president is reported to have departed Sierra Leone Friday afternoon for Abuja, Nigeria, on a Nigerian Air Force flight from the Freetown International Airport, Lungi.
Reports say he was accompanied from his home to the Water Taxi that took him to Lungi by the Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation, Timothy Musa Kabba, the Chief of Defense Staff, Lieutenant General Peter Lavahun, the Inspector General of Police, William Fayia Sellu, and the country’s lead attorney, Joseph Kamara.
The president, Julius Maada Bio, during a national broadcast after the Court’s decision was announced, said the application granted the former president is for a temporary leave from the country for “specialised medical reasons”, and his trial is expected to be suspended for the duration of his exit.
The country’s minister of information, Cherbor Bah, had earlier contradicted the president’s claims. Speaking with the global news network, Al Jazeera, Bah said that the case would continue.
He also insisted that the decision of the courts had nothing to do with the discussions between the government and ECOWAS over requests made in December for “temporary relocation” of Koroma to Nigeria.
Commentators say Bah’s claims seem ambiguous when weighed against the unusual coincidence that the requests of Koroma’s lawyers seek approval for his trip to Abuja, the Nigerian capital, which happens to be the same destination the ECOWAS had requested that he be moved to.
Many have also questioned the logic of Koroma’s request for medical check-up in a country he has never sought such services before. One commentator quipped that the idea of Koroma going to Nigeria for medical aid, “when even Nigerian politicians themselves fly abroad for medical urgencies, is enough to expose the hidden hands behind this request”.
The ECOWAS letter had requested that, once Koroma leaves Sierra Leone, the government would “cease all legal and administrative procedures against him; the government of Sierra Leone will continue to disburse to him his benefits as former president; the government of Sierra Leone will secure his residences in the various locations in Sierra Leone; the government of Sierra Leone will consider refunding travel and medical expenses he has incurred.”
While the reports say Koroma will continue to observe the other terms of the Bail Conditions, political watchers say it is difficult to see how this would be possible when he would be outside the jurisdiction of the country’s judicial authority. What is even more disturbing, they say, is the message such a decision passes to Sierra Leoneans who expect to see a court trial that would not be selective in carrying out its duties.
The decision continues to stir public deliberations. This places a heavy burden on the government of Sierra Leone, and it must show that the court’s decision is not an indication of its submission to the dictates of a regional political force that it feels powerless to confront. It is also important, political watchers say, that it shows its citizens that the country’s judiciary has not been compromised, especially as the failed coup attempt claimed several Sierra Leonean lives.
This is a tough task. There are already many people who say the Court’s decision will raise many questions about the transparency of the legal process. “I’m deeply disappointed with fact that there is selective justice in Sierra Leone, I don’t believe if this government will ever truly respect patriots who lost their lives while defending the state. People who were injured while defending the state are treated in Sierra Leone but those who are behind the acts of sabotage leave freely”, one commentator writes.
Such claims, some say, do not consider the dilemma the government faces as it tries to balance its objective of prosecuting those charged and managing the obvious pressure from former regional political allies of Koroma, especially from Nigeria.
President Bio’s decision to allow the judiciary make the decisions on the former president’s bail application, independent of executive influence, sends a message, he says, that the trial is not a political witch-hunt. A point that the government would clearly want to stress.
There were already claims that the mere attempt to charge a former president, and senior leader of the country’s main opposition party to court on evidences that have not been made public is indicative of a political vendetta.
Bah refuted this claim, noting that events following the coup attempt showed that the government has treated the former president “with respect and the dignity that is owed to somebody of his position”.
However, the government’s position, some pundits say, must also show that it intends to be fair to all those charged if the trials are to be considered transparent by the public.
Some political analysts have suggested that the government continue with the trial of the former president in absentia, if he fails to return to the country and, if found guilty, must be sentenced in absentia. This, they say, would show seriousness by the government and reassure Sierra Leoneans.
Some others have suggested that Bio’s government must secure assurances from regional partners that Koroma be returned for his trial. They also insist that the government must send a strong message to ECOWAS that the use of political pressure against sovereign states contradicts its avowed stance of defending the democratic principle.
