Court martial of 14 soldiers accused of mutiny opens in Sierra Leone

FREETOWN, Sierra Leone – A court martial of 14 soldiers accused of mutiny has opened in the capital of the West African nation of Sierra Leone.

Each soldier faces eight counts of mutiny, according to the charge sheet read out in court on Monday. The soldiers were arrested in August 2013 on suspicions they were planning a meeting aimed at destabilizing the democratically elected government.

All 14 pleaded not guilty to the charges, and they were denied bail. The penalty for mutiny is death by firing squad.

Sierra Leone is still slowly recovering from a devastating civil war that ended in 2002, though it has held elections since them that were deemed to be transparent.