By Hadram Hydara
DENVER, Colorado – The second day of the U.S. trial of Michael Sang Correa, an alleged former member of a Gambian death squad, featured graphic testimony Tuesday from survivors who accused him of torture under ex-dictator Yahya Jammeh’s regime.
The proceedings, held at the Alfred A. Arraj U.S. Courthouse, followed Monday’s opening arguments in which prosecutors and defense attorneys clashed over Correa’s role in the notorious ‘Junglers’ unit. Justice Department attorney Marie Zisa told jurors Monday that Correa is “on trial today because of the choices he made,” stressing, “the victims have not forgotten his cruelty.”
Correa’s defense team, led by attorneys Jared Westbroek and Boston Stanton Jr., argued he was coerced under Jammeh’s authoritarian rule, describing him as “lowest on the totem pole” and living in “constant fear” with “no choice but to follow command.”
On Tuesday, the prosecution called its first witnesses, including Dr. Maggie Dwyer, a University of Edinburgh scholar, who contextualized Gambia’s political history from independence in 1965 through Jammeh’s 22-year reign. Her testimony outlined the regime’s security structures but did not address Correa’s specific alleged crimes.
The emotional weight of the day came from two survivors of the Junglers’ brutality. Alieu Jobe, arrested after a failed 2006 coup, recounted being beaten with metal rods by a man he identified as “Rambo” while his wife was four months pregnant. “They tortured me repeatedly,” Jobe testified, his voice steady but strained.
Yaya M.S. Darboe, imprisoned for nine years and four months, described losing his father, brother, and marriage during his detention. He called the Junglers “terrible people” and singled out Correa as “aggressive” during torture sessions. Both men were pardoned by Jammeh in 2015.
Correa, charged under U.S. laws permitting prosecution for extraterritorial human rights abuses, faces life imprisonment if convicted. The trial resumes Wednesday, April 9, with further witness testimony.
