Banjul (The Gambia) (AFP)

A Gambian serviceman on Monday accused, during a public hearing before the Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRRC), former President Yahya Jammeh of ordering the assassination 15 years ago of Deyda Hydara, who was the correspondent of AFP, and acknowledged to have directly participated in his assassination.

The journalist critical of the regime of Yahya Jammeh was shot dead on December 16, 2004 in Banjul as he was driving two female staff members of his newspaper who were injured.

Aged 58, father of four, co-founder of the private newspaper The Point, he was also the correspondent of Agence France-Presse (AFP) for 30 years and Reporters Without Borders (RSF) in the Gambia, where he was considered as the dean of the profession.

"We shot Alieu Jeng and Sanna Manjang," Lieutenant Malick Jatta, who has been detained since February 8, 2017, told the TRRC. Alieu Jeng, another soldier, is also in detention.

Sanna Manjang is a deserter from the army. In May 2017, he was indicted, along with Kawsu Camara, a former army colonel, of "murder and conspiracy to commit murder" in the investigation into the assassination of Deyda Hydara.

These two men, on the run, pass to The Gambia for being members of the "Jungulars" (or "Junglers"), considered as the death squads of Yahya Jammeh's regime.

- Dollars envelopes -

The day after the operation against the journalist, the group's commander, Captain Tumbul Tamba, gave them an "envelope containing dollars," Malick Jatta testified. "He told us that it was a gesture of appreciation on the part of the great man".

Questioned by the Commission about the name of this "great man", the military claimed that he was the "president", who came to power by a bloodless coup in July 1994 in this small English-speaking country in Africa. from West.

Captain Tumbul Tamba "spoke to the president during the operation", he said to him "Yes sir, your excellence," said the lieutenant. In addition, "Tumbul had no other way to get dollars."

According to his account, their leader explained that they were in pursuit of the "magic pen" and, once at the height of his vehicle, he ordered them to shoot the driver.

Established by a law in December 2017 and composed of 11 members, the TRRC, which investigates the alleged crimes committed during the 22 years of the regime of Mr. Jammeh, in exile in Equatorial Guinea, began its hearings in January 2019.

A Yahya Jammeh minister, Yankuba Touray, suspected of involvement in the assassination of a minister and soldiers during a coup attempt in the 1990s, was arrested on June 26 during his hearing by TRRC for refusing to answer his questions.

- systematic torture -

Human rights defenders accuse Yahya Jammeh's regime of systematic torture of opponents and journalists, extrajudicial executions, arbitrary detentions and enforced disappearances.

The former president was charged in late June by three Gambian women, including a former beauty queen, forcing them into sexual relations using moral, financial or physical pressure while in power.

Yahya Jammeh was first elected in 1996 and then re-elected without interruption until his defeat in December 2016 against opponent Adama Barrow.

After six weeks of a rebound crisis caused by his refusal to give up power, he finally had to leave his country on 21 January 2017 following the military intervention of a regional force mainly composed of troops from neighboring Senegal. an ultimate Guinean-Mauritanian mediation.

In 2017, NGOs and victims' associations, including the daughter of Solo Sandeng, an opponent who died in detention in April 2016, and Deyda Hydara's son, launched the international "Jammeh2Justice" campaign to bring the ex-combatant to justice. President.

Asked in early 2018 about a possible request for extradition of Yahya Jammeh, Adama Barrow replied that he would wait for the end of the work of the TRRC to decide.

© 2019 AFP