Gambia opens its first trial of member of notorious 'death squad'

The Gambia opened its first trial Thursday against a member of the country's notorious "Junglers" paramilitary unit, which acted as a death squad under the reign of ex-dictator Yahya Jammeh.

Sanna Manjang, who was the head of the squad, pleaded not guilty to two counts of murder at the country's High Court in Banjul.

In December, Manjang was also charged with two other killings, including the shooting of longtime AFP journalist Deyda Hydara.

But neither case figured among those that went to trial Thursday, surprising some observers.

Instead, Manjang was charged with the murder of Kajali Jammeh, reportedly a member of the MFDC rebels, a separatist group fighting for independence for the Casamance region of Senegal.

Prosecutors allege Manjang killed him by slitting his neck with a knife.

They also accuse Manjang of killing another man, Samba Wurry, by stabbing him in the chest.

A former worker at Yahya Jammeh's residence had previously testified to the country's Truth, Reconciliation and Reparations Commission (TRRC) that Manjang decapitated Kajali Jammeh with a knife or sword, telling his victim: "I am going to kill you, cut your throat and feed your body to the crocodiles."

Manjang sits in the dock at the High Court in Banjul. By Muhamadou BITTAYE (AFP)

The next hearing is scheduled for February 9 and could include additional murders.

The Junglers worked independently of The Gambia's regular army, and the death squad has long been accused of extrajudicial killings and torture by the United Nations and rights groups.

Manjang was arrested in neighbouring Senegal in November and repatriated to The Gambia in December.

He had been on the run since Jammeh was forced into exile in 2017.

Jammeh's more than two decades in power, from 1994 to 2017, were marked by significant rights abuses and the earmarking of state funds for the eccentric leader's personal use, the current government and rights groups say.

After losing a presidential election in December 2016 to opposition leader Adama Barrow, Jammeh refused to acknowledge the results and was ultimately forced to flee to Equatorial Guinea.

Following his departure, the country established the TRRC, which probed alleged crimes under his rule.

The commission found that 240 to 250 people were killed by the state during Jammeh's reign.

It also found evidence of widespread extrajudicial killings, torture, kidnappings, witch hunts and other abuses.

Several of Jammeh's accomplices, including Junglers, have been detained and sentenced abroad in Germany, Switzerland and the United States.