A Gambian court has condemned former intelligence head Yankuba Badji and four other intelligence service personnel to death in connection with the murder of political activist Ebrima Solo Sandeng while Yahya Jammeh was in power. The verdict was announced on Wednesday.
The death penalty has been prohibited in the nation since 2018, hence the sentences issued by the Gambia supreme court will be changed to life in prison.
A key person in the opposition United Democratic Party, Sandeng, was killed, and Badji was found guilty. In April 2016, the dead was detained by state security after spearheading a nonviolent protest march for political reform. According to witnesses, Sandeng died two days later in custody and was buried in an unmarked grave, which infuriated the Gambians, who eight months later ousted Jammeh.
Sheikh Omar Jeng, a former head of the agency activities, as well as the representatives Baboucarr Sallah, Lamin Darboe, and Tamba Mansary were also found guilty of the same offences as Badji and received death sentences.
For 22 years, Jammeh ruled The Gambia and was frequently accused of violating human rights, particularly via the use of torture and arbitrary detentions. He left the nation in 2017 and is now in exile in Equatorial Guinea. As per recommendations made by a truth and reconciliation committee last year, Jammeh and others will be prosecuted for killings, rapes, and other crimes perpetrated during his 1994–2017 dictatorship by Adama Barrow’s administration.
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