A former member of the Gambian armed forces who is on trial in Germany for suspected crimes against humanity, murder and attempted murder is due to receive his verdict on soon.
The court announced on Monday that the verdict would be passed on Thursday by the judges.
The 48-year-old man, identified only as Bai L due to Germany’s strict privacy laws, was
alleged to have been part of a death squad unit of the Gambian army known as the “patrol team.’’
This team carried out extra-judicial killings aimed at subduing the political opposition to the then president, Yahya Jammeh, the prosecutors alleged.
Bai L had in his role as driver transported accomplices who had orders to kill political opponents, the Karlsruhe-based prosecutors’ office said, outlining a list of alleged crimes.
In 2003, a lawyer survived several gunshots with serious injuries and a year later a journalist critical of the government was killed. In 2006, members of the unit known as the Junglers allegedly shot dead an opponent of Jammeh.
The accused was arrested in Hanover, Germany in March 2021 and has been in custody since then. Charges were filed a year later, followed by the trial in the Celle Higher Regional Court, north of Hanover.
The defense has requested that the accused be acquitted, while federal prosecutors demanded a life sentence.
Gambia in West Africa is one of the poorest countries in the world.
The alleged crimes took place between 2003 and 2006, during the long period of rule by former military officer Jammeh. (dpa/NAN). READ ALSO:
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