Ex — Jammeh Death Squad Leader Pleads Not Guilty in Gambia’s Landmark Trial. Banjul, Gambia — The Gambia’s High Court in Banjul commenced a historic trial on Thursday against Sanna Manjang, the former head of the notorious “Junglers “paramilitary unit under ex-dictator Yahya Jammeh. Manjang, who has pleaded not guilty to two counts of murder, is facing charges related to the deaths of two individuals, including a former member of the MFDC rebels.
According to local reports, Manjang was charged with the murder of Kajali Jammeh, a separatist fighter from the Casamance region of Senegal. Prosecutors claim Manjang slit Jammeh’s throat.
Additionally, he faces charges for the stabbing death of Samba Wurry.
The trial comes after a former worker at Jammeh’s residence testified before the country’s Truth, Reconciliation, and Reparations Commission (TRRC) that Manjang decapitated Kajali Jammeh.
The Junglers, a death squad that operated independently of The Gambia’s regular army, has been accused of extrajudicial killings and torture by the United Nations and rights groups. Manjang was arrested in Senegal in November and returned to The Gambia in December.
He had been in hiding since Jammeh was forced into exile in 2017.
Jammeh’s regime, which lasted from 1994 to 2017, was characterized by significant human rights abuses and allegations of the misuse of state funds for personal gain. After losing a presidential election in December 2016, Jammeh refused to cede power and was eventually forced out of the country.
The TRRC found that 240 to 250 people were killed by the state during Jammeh’s rule, including widespread extrajudicial killings, torture, kidnappings, witch hunts, and other abuses. Several of Jammeh’s accomplices, including members of the Junglers, have been detained and sentenced abroad.
The next hearing in the case against Manjang is scheduled for February 9, and it may include additional murders.
Further details are expected as the trial progresses.
