The accused, who face various charges for riotous conduct, include a former deputy minister of Health and an ex-parliamentarian.
They were rounded up by police during protests sparked by the detention of a former cabinet minister in the Ernest Bai Koroma administration.
Major (rtd) Alfred Palo Conteh, who served as deputy Defence Minister, was detained on December 28 at the Police Criminal Investigation Department (CID) on the orders of the Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC).
The ACC is investigating him for alleged corruption in the procurement of military vehicles, uniforms and rice involving about $10 million. He was subsequently released on bail after four days in a cell.
Conteh is the latest high-profile official of the former administration of President Koroma to have fallen in the net of the ACC which has waged a war against graft, as part of new President Julius Maada Bio’s campaign against financial indiscipline.
His arrests prompted protests by APC leaders and their supporters, who stormed the offices of the CID to demand his release.
Few days later, police fired tear gas and rubber bullets at protesters in and around the headquarters of the opposition party, leading to the arrests of dozens, among them Zuliatu Cooper, a former deputy Health minister.
Also detained was Dauda Kallon, former Member of Parliament from the Western Area Rural District. They were subsequently slammed with four count charges ranging from riotous conduct, disorderly behaviour, abusive language and possession of offensive weapons. They deny all the charges.
The APC, which ruled Sierra Leone from 2007 to 2018, say the arrests of its members amount to a witch-hunt. It has vowed to resist the new government’s plans to try its members in a Commission of Enquiry slated to commence this month.
Last week the APC and the governing SLPP made heated exchanges in the form of counter statements which has raised widespread concern of political instability.
The opposition party says the new government’s anti-graft crusade was designed to target a particular ethnic group. The situation has sparked rumours of further protests planned on Monday, prompting a heavy deployment of armed police in the streets of the capital, Freetown.
According to reports, the ACC also last week questioned a number of high-profile former government officials, including the current housing minister Dennis Sandy.