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Ex-junta officers released from prison

    ABIDJAN

    Eight former members of the Armed Forces Revolutionary Council (AFRC) that toppled President Ahmad Tejan Kabbah two years ago were released over the weekend, presidential spokesman Septimus Kaikai told IRIN.

    The eight had been jailed for their part in the May 1997 coup against Kabbah, who was reinstated in March 1998. They were originally sentenced to death for treason but Kabbah later commuted this to life imprisonment.

    The release of the prisoners is in keeping with the Lome peace accord signed on 7 July by the government and the Revolutionary United Front (RUF).

    The pact states that the government shall "grant absolute and free pardon and reprieve to all combatants and collaborators in respect of anything done by them in pursuit of their objectives, up to the time of the signing of the present Agreement."

    Kaikai told IRIN plans were underway to release the remaining ex-AFRC soldiers still in prison and that the Attorney General was looking at the legal requirements for this.

    This article was produced by IRIN News while it was part of the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs. Please send queries on copyright or liability to the UN. For more information: https://shop.un.org/rights-permissions

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