Former Junglers Leader Appears Before Gambian Military Court

Sanna Manjang, the former head of The Gambia’s paramilitary Junglers unit, has appeared before a military court in Banjul to face charges of deserting the country’s armed forces.

Manjang, a lieutenant colonel, is accused of leaving the armed forces in 2017, following the end of Yahya Jammeh’s 20-year rule. The military charge describes an alleged absence lasting “a continuous period of nine years with the intention of deserting.”

The supplied information does not indicate how Manjang responded to the charge, identify the presiding judge or state when the trial is expected to conclude.

Return to The Gambia

Manjang was arrested in Senegal in November and repatriated to The Gambia a month later. His appearance before the military court comes alongside separate legal proceedings connected to allegations from the period of Jammeh’s rule.

A murder case against Manjang was dropped in July after The Gambia struggled to summon witnesses. Some of those witnesses were allegedly members of the Junglers, which have also been described as a death squad in connection with the earlier case.

Manjang had previously faced four murder counts, including allegations over the 2004 killing of AFP journalist Deyda Hydara. He was also accused of killing three other men and of personally decapitating one of them. The murder allegations remain allegations, and the case was dropped.

Separately, Manjang was charged with assaulting two other men in an ongoing trial.

Accountability after Jammeh

The Junglers operated independently from the Gambian army. The United Nations has accused the group of extrajudicial killings and torture.

Jammeh lost power in 2016 to Adama Barrow, then an opposition leader, and was forced into exile. After his departure, The Gambia established the Truth, Reconciliation and Reparations Commission to examine abuses committed during his rule.

The commission said between 240 and 250 people were killed by the state during Jammeh’s time in power. It also reported evidence of widespread extrajudicial killings, torture, kidnappings, witch hunts and other abuses.

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

The desertion proceedings against Manjang represent another legal process linked to the years of alleged abuses under Jammeh. No outcome in the military case has been reported.