By Hadram Hydara
The third day of the landmark US trial of Michael Sang Correa, an alleged member of Gambia’s notorious ‘Junglers’ death squad, focused on testimony detailing how Homeland Security agents tracked him down using a subpoenaed Western Union account linked to his diplomatic passport.
Correa, 45, faces six counts of torture in a Colorado federal court over his alleged role in the brutal interrogation of coup plot suspects under former Gambian dictator Yahya Jammeh.
Special Agent Mathew Gifford, a Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) official stationed in Senegal, testified at Denver’s Alfred A. Arraj Courthouse that locating Correa proved challenging until authorities subpoenaed Western Union. The records revealed money transfers Correa sent to family in The Gambia using his diplomatic passport, ultimately leading to his arrest.
Prosecutors displayed graphic photos taken by Gifford of alleged torture of late Pierre John Mendy, showing scars on his right wrist, left hand, outer thighs, knees, shins, and the back of his head. The injuries were allegedly inflicted during detention by the Junglers, a unit accused of carrying out extrajudicial killings and torture for Jammeh’s regime.
Earlier, coup participant Yaya Darboe, who was arrested and tortured in 2006, now suffers from a permanent eye condition caused by the torture he endured at the hands of the ‘Junglers’ during his detention. Defence attorney Jared Westbroek cross-examined him, and images of scars allegedly caused by melted plastic bags burned into his skin were exhibited as evidence.
Another witness, Sainey Bayo, countered defence suggestions of bias under cross-examination by Correa’s lawyer, Matthew Belcher. When asked if he knew Saul Badjie, a former Junglers commander, Bayo replied: “Training somebody and knowing him are two different things.”
Gifford was the prosecution’s third witness, followed by a final testimony from Demba Dem.
Correa is charged with torturing five people to extract confessions about a failed 2006 coup against Jammeh, who ruled Gambia for 22 years until 2017. The trial marks a rare attempt to prosecute overseas human rights abuses under US law.
The trial continues this week in Colorado’s District Court, where prosecutors aim to tie Correa to the Junglers’ campaign of state-sponsored terror under Jammeh, who remains in exile.
