Sanna Manjang, an alleged member of a Gambian death squad has been whisked to court where he was officially charged with his possible role in huma rights violations carried out under ex President Yahya Jammeh’s watch.
The former state guard who was handed over to Gambia by the Senegalese military in the border town of Seleti, was ferried to the Kanifing Magistrate’s Court where a heavy security presence was visible on Tuesday afternoon.
Manjang was arrested three days earlier by the Senegalese security officers in Senegal’s southern region of Casamance nine years after going on the run following Jammeh’s election defeat to current President Adama Barrow.
He is suspected of involvement in numerous human rights violations committed between 1994 when Yahya Jammeh came to power in a coup, and 2017, when his regime fell and forced him into exile in Equatorial Guinea.
Manjang is specifically named in testimonies to Gambia’s erstwhile Truth, Reconciliation and Reparations Commission (TRRC) over his allegedly central role in extrajudicial killings, torture, and enforced disappearances.
He was adversely mentioned in the drive-by shooting of veteran journalist Deyda Hydara in December 2004 and the summary execution of 44 Ghanaians less than a year later.
Intelligence reports had suggested that he was hibernating between Casamance in southern Senegal and neighbouring Guinea-Bissau since he went on the run in 2016.
The Banjul Magistrates’ Court issued an arrest warrant in February, following a request from Interpol Washington asking the Gambian police to confirm whether Manjang was still wanted and recommending an international warrant.
The Gambian authorities say the arrest represents ”a major step forward” in the pursuit of justice for victims of the Jammeh regime.
WN/as/APA