First conviction in Sierra Leone under Ebola laws

In this Sunday, Aug. 10, 2014 file photo, an ambulance leaves the Ebola isolation unit carrying the bodies of Ebola victims that are highly contagious to a burial site, at the Kenema Government Hospital situated in the Eastern Province around 300 km, (186 miles), from the capital city of Freetown in Kenema, Sierra Leone . AP

FREETOWN,Sierra Leone — A village chief has become the first person in Sierra Leone to be jailed under laws aimed at preventing the spread of the Ebola virus, court officials and lawyers said Tuesday.

Amadu Kargbo was sentenced to six months in jail by a court in the southwestern city of Moyamba for secretly burying the dead and failing to report a sick patient, court official Foday Fofanah told AFP.

He was also fined one million leones ($235) and ordered to spend 21 days in quarantine before going to jail.

Lawyers in the capital Freetown said it was the first known conviction under the country’s Ebola laws.

Fofanah said the chief had pleaded guilty to secretly burying his daughter, who had died of Ebola.

He added that Kargbo’s wife had also died after attending the funeral of another family member, although it was not clear if any of the charges related to his wife’s death and burial.

Ebola has killed more than 7,500 people, almost all of them in west Africa and Sierra Leone recently overtook Liberia as the country with the highest number of Ebola infections.

Authorities have banned public gatherings as well as New Year celebrations as part of sweeping efforts to stem the spread of the virus.