A Gambian army officer has testified in a U.S. federal court that he defied a direct order from former President Yahya Jammeh to assassinate journalist Deyda Hydara, a decision that nearly cost him his life.
Second Lieutenant Pharing Sanyang, appearing as a witness in the trial of Michael Sang Correa—an alleged member of Jammeh’s feared death squad, the Junglers—said he was personally asked by Jammeh in 2004 to kill Hydara. Sanyang told the court he refused, insisting that if Hydara had done anything wrong, the proper legal process should be followed.
Sanyang’s defiance, he testified, led to his inclusion on a kill list. He later endured brutal torture after being accused of involvement in a failed 2006 coup. Photos presented in court showed cigarette burns and bayonet wounds on his body. He said the abuse came at the hands of the Junglers at the National Intelligence Agency (NIA), including being beaten until blood soaked his uniform.
Sanyang said he also turned down an offer to join the Junglers, rejecting incentives including a vehicle. He described them as a unit that operated outside the law, carrying out torture, executions, and disappearances from 1994 to 2016.
Under cross-examination, he named other soldiers who were also tortured following the coup attempt, and recounted being trained alongside Correa when he led the State House Commando Company.
Another witness, Tamsir Jasseh, a former U.S. Navy serviceman and ex-immigration chief, testified about being tortured by Correa at the NIA. He described being suffocated with a plastic bag and only surviving after biting a hole to breathe. Correa, he said, mocked his American citizenship and told him Jammeh wanted to hear his screams over the phone.
The testimony has added to mounting evidence against Correa, who is facing trial in Denver, Colorado, for human rights abuses committed under Jammeh’s rule. The trial continues.
