On February 1, 2022, heavily armed men attacked government buildings in the capital Bissau where President Umaro Sissoco Embalo was believed to be attending a cabinet meeting.

The government said 11 people were killed in a five-hour gun battle but the president emerged unscathed.

He later described the plot as linked to his fight against drug trafficking and corruption.

The list of 20 people facing trial includes former prime ministers Domingos Simoes Pereira and Nuno Gomes Nabiam, former chiefs of staff Antonio Indjai and Jose Zamora Induta, and several MPs.

The document from the "independent commission of inquiry" set up after February's events presents former navy chief Jose Americo Bubu Na Tchuto as the "presumed leader of the coup attempt".

"Following the ongoing investigation into the attack on the government palace with automatic weapons, the above-mentioned personalities will be brought to justice to answer for the crimes they are alleged to have committed," the document said.

No date was given for the trial.

"Whoever is found guilty will pay for their actions. People cannot go unpunished," Embalo said Thursday, referring to the case, among others.

Since gaining independence from Portugal in 1974, the small West African nation has seen a series of coups and coup attempts.

Volatility, poverty and a porous coastline have made the country a hub for cocaine trafficking between Latin American and Europe, with senior figures in the security forces implicated in the trade.

It has moved towards a return to constitutional order since 2014, but this has not spared it from turbulence and a state of chronic political crisis.

In December 2023, the country saw clashes between members of the National Guard and special forces of the presidential guard, which left two people dead.

The president described the violence as an "attempted coup".