Sierra Leone’s Parliament Votes to Abolish Capital Punishment

Sierra Leone is set to become the 23rd country on the African continent to abolish the death penalty.   

Lawmakers in the West African nation voted unanimously Friday to outlaw capital punishment and replace it with life imprisonment or a minimum 30-year sentence for such crimes as murder or treason and grant judges additional discretion when handing down a sentence.    Sierra Leone has not executed anyone since 1998, when 24 soldiers were put to death by firing squad for taking part in a coup attempt the previous year. At the time the country was in the throes of a bloody civil war that lasted from 1991 to 2002. But more than 80 people have been sent to death row since then.   President Julius Maada Bio is expected to sign the legislation into law.