Lance Corporal Sanna Fadera has been sentenced to 12 years in prison by Gambia's High Court for committing treason, according to local media.
The judge ruled that the evidence showed that Fadera prepared to and attempted to overthrow the Gambian government by unlawful means in 2022.
In justifying the sentence, the court referred to the testimonies of two prosecution witnesses who were soldiers. These witnesses stated that Fadera had openly disclosed his plan to overthrow the government of President Adama Barrow and had convinced several soldiers to join his cause.
In June, Fadera denied any involvement in misconduct, stating that he had never schemed to overthrow the government or encouraged his colleagues to rebel.
A total of eight soldiers were charged in connection with the coup attempt, but, besides Fadera, only three have been brought to trial. However, all three, namely Petty Officer Gibril Darboe, Corporal Ebrima Sannoh, and Fabakary Jawara, were acquitted and discharged of treason charges because "the state failed to prove its case against the trio beyond reasonable doubt," according to local media.
The prosecution reportedly announced its intention to appeal the acquittal and release of the three.
Last year's coup attempt was the fourth in the West African nation since independence in 1965. The first coup, in 1981 under Marxist-Leninist slogans, was crushed. The second Gambian coup ended in 1994 and Yahya Jammeh was installed. He was in power until 2017, when he lost an election to Barrow. A third coup took place in 2014, however, the rebels failed to take control of occupied sites and the attempt failed.