A Sierra Leone court has ordered former president Ernest Bai Koroma to pay more than $15 million in a suspected corruption case, legal authorities said.
The appeal court in the capital Freetown rejected arguments by lawyers for Koroma, who was president until 2018, and ordered the sum be paid within 30 days, they said in a statement on social media.
"We will appeal the judgement," Koroma's lawyer Joseph Fitzgerald Kamara told AFP news agency by telephone on Friday.
He added they had yet to receive a copy of the ruling after it was read out in court on Thursday.
It wasn't clear from the court statement precisely why the former leader had been ordered to pay the $15 million.
'Attempted coup'
It comes as Koroma is a suspect in the organisation of what the government calls an "attempted coup" last month.
Armed attackers stormed a military armoury, two barracks, two prisons and two police stations during the early hours of November 26, clashing with security forces.
The fighting left 21 people dead, authorities say.
Koroma has been confined to his home, amid questioning.
After his election for a first term in 2018, President Julius Maada Bio launched a vigorous campaign against corruption, reputed to be endemic in the country, and the squandering of public assets.
A court on Wednesday ordered the arrest of Samura Kamara, opposition leader and runner-up in June's presidential election, on corruption charges.
