Sierra Leone Witnesses First Conviction Under Ebola Laws

The first person to be jailed under laws aimed at preventing the spread of Ebola is a village chief in Sierra Leone, court officials and lawyers said Tuesday.  

Sierra Leone is the worst-affected country and it had brought into effect new laws to curb the spread of the deadly virus. The convicted village chief, Amadu Kargbo, has been jailed for secretly burying his daughter who had died of Ebola and not reporting the case of a sick patient to the authorities.

Under Ebola's new laws, Kargbo has been sentenced to six months in jail and has been slapped with a fine of one million leones ($235), AFP reports.

The convicted has been ordered to spend 21 days in quarantine, which is the incubation period of the virus, before he is put behind bars.

According to Daily Mail, court official Foday Fofanah said that Kargbo had pleaded guilty of the crime.

It has been learnt that Kargbo's wife also died after attending the funeral of a family member. However, it is not clear if any of his charges are related to the death and burial of his wife.

The tradition of cleansing the dead before burial has lead to the extensive spread of the disease in Sierra Leone. The government has threatened a crackdown and said that it would not hesitate arresting "entire families" if found guilty of not complying with the Ebola laws.

"Anyone found in violation of the law as far as burials, washing of corpses and keeping sick people in homes ... will be dealt with severely," said Palo Conteh, head of the government's National Ebola Response Centre, International Business Times reports.

The Ebola epidemic has killed more than 7,500 people this year and Sierra Leone remains the worst-affected with known 8,939 cases and 2,500 deaths.