The Gambian judiciary delivered its verdict on Thursday 14 July 2022 in the case of Solo Sandeng, the opposition leader of the United Democratic Party who was killed under the regime of Yahya Jammeh. A total of five people, including the former director of the national intelligence agency, are sentenced to death.
The news finally came out today, Thursday 14 July, after seven years of trial. The Gambian judiciary has handed down its decision in the case of the murder of Solo Sandeng, a staunch opponent of the regime of former president Yahya Jammeh and leader of the United Democratic Party.
April 2016, when everything changed for Solo Sandeng.
The incident started from a demonstration in April 2016 where Solo Sandeng was alongside other opposition political formations to demand political reforms from the then government. The rally is forcefully suppressed. Solo Sandeng is arrested and beaten to death in the premises of the National Intelligence Agency (NIA).
So many futile attempts before Adama Barrow’s regime.
Many voices have been raised and protests organised across the country to demand justice and a trial. These initiatives did not succeed, because they were suppressed at the time by the police and the authorities turned a deaf ear. It was only in 2017, with the arrival of the Adama Barrow regime, that the High Court of Justice was able to open a trial to rule on the Solo Sandeng case.
High-level officials at the helm of this assassination.
Nine former officials of Yahya Jammeh’s repressive apparatus are being prosecuted for kidnap, crimes, grievous bodily harm and issuing false death certificates. The accused include NIA chief Yankuba Badjie and his henchman Saikou Omar Jeng. In total, 25 charges are retained by the high court in this case.
The shock is still remembered
Mrs Kumba Sillah Camara, a judge at the High Court of Justice deplored the undignified treatment of Solo Sandeng’s body even after his death.
Justice is invited to go further after this stage.
The Solo Sandeng Foundation welcomes the court’s decision. Justice seems to have been done. But the other cases related to disappearances and murders need to be solved.
