[AFRICANEWS] The Sierra Leonean government announced on Monday 43 new arrests in connection with the November 26 coup attempt, bringing to 57 the number of people arrested since these events, the vast majority of them military personnel.The latest figures published, on November 28, showed 14 people arrested, including 13 soldiers and one civilian.
"Fifty-seven people have been arrested since the failed coup," including 43 during the last weekend, declared the deputy minister in charge of Information, Yusuf Keketoma Sandi, on state radio, without specifying the location and circumstances of these arrests.
These 57 people are 37 soldiers, 10 civilians, four soldiers dismissed from the army, five active coppers and one retired, detailed Mr. Sandi. The names of the leaders of the coup have not been disclosed.
Sierra Leonean President Julius Maada Bio promised on Saturday that the response to the events would be dictated by "respect for the law".
In the early hours of November 26, men attacked a military armoury, two other barracks, two prisons and two cop shoppes, and clashed with security forces at gunpoint.
The fighting left 21 dead: 14 soldiers, a police officer, a prison guard, a security guard, a woman and three attackers, according to Information Minister Chernor Bah.