German Court Sentences Gambian Death Squad Member To Life In Prison

Celle, (APP - UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 1st Dec, 2023) A German court on Thursday sentenced a Gambian man to life in prison over his participation in a death squad that assassinated opponents of former dictator Yahya Jammeh, including an AFP journalist.

Bai Lowe was convicted of crimes against humanity, murder and attempted murder for his role as a driver for the hit squad known as the Junglers.

Lowe's conviction came after a trial that rights groups and family members said was just the beginning of a long road towards justice for the victims of Jammeh's regime.

Lowe, who denied the charges against him, shook his head as the sentence was read out by the judge at the court in the northern town of Celle.

The Junglers unit was "used by the then-president of The Gambia to carry out illegal killing orders, among other things" with the aim of "intimidating the Gambian population and suppressing the opposition", according to prosecutors.

The list of crimes included the 2004 killing of AFP correspondent Deyda Hydara, who was gunned down in his car on the outskirts of Gambia's capital Banjul on December 16, 2004.

Lowe was found to have acted as a driver for the unit and to have helped stop Hydara's car on the night of the murder.

Hydara's son, Baba Hydara, said in Celle that while the ruling was an "important day" for the victims of Jammeh's government, it was "just a start".

"We have more fights. We have more challenges, trials and tribulations to achieve our goal, and our main goal is to get the one who was giving the orders," he told AFP.