Former Gambian President Yahya Jammeh arrives at the airport before flying into exile from Gambia, January 21, 2017. Photo: Reuters
Gambia’s government says it accepted the recommendation by a truth and reconciliation commission that exiled former president Yahya Jammeh be prosecuted for killings and other suspected crimes from his time in office.
According to Reuters, Attorney General Dawda Jallow noted that a special prosecutor would oversee cases of abuses found from Jammeh’s 1994 to 2017 rule, which were laid out in the Truth, Reconciliation and Reparations Commission’s (TRRC) report last year.
The independent commission said Jammeh and his henchmen were responsible for 44 specific crimes against journalists, former soldiers, political opponents and civilians, including killings and rapes.
Jammeh seized power of the tiny West African nation in a 1994 coup. He was forced out after losing a 2016 election to the current president, Adama Barrow, and fled to Equatorial Guinea. He has denied allegations of wrongdoing.
Writing by Muzha Kucha