However, the first motion filed by Correa’s lawyers asking the judge to dismiss the case against him because the US government was not facilitating the attendance of his witnesses, was denied on Wednesday afternoon this week.
Correa’s second motion asked the court to delay the trial while his attorneys travel to The Gambia to take depositions from Hydara and Jeng. The United States declined to offer that immunity.
His first motion explained that he intended to present testimony from Momodou Hydara and Alieu Jeng at the trial. Correa claims that this testimony would support his defence that he was coerced to, and under duress, when he allegedly assaulted the individuals listed in the indictment.
However, according to Correa, Hydara and Jeng refused to travel to the United States unless the United States government provided them with immunity from prosecution.
“While these delays are difficult for victims who have waited for decades for some measure of justice, it is important that the judge gives Correa an opportunity to present his defence. To be clear, this only delays the trial, while Correa’s attorneys travel to The Gambia to take these depositions. The trial will be rescheduled,” statement from victims’ lawyers said in a statement early yesterday morning.
Reacting to this development, Sirra Ndow, chairperson of the Association of Victim Led Organisations in The Gambia, yesterday told The Point, “We are sharing with the victims as we speak but the initial reaction is of course disappointment over the delay after waiting so long but still committed to seeking justice.”
Depositions are a form of video recorded testimony, that can be presented in exceptional circumstances where a witness cannot travel to court.
Michael Correa, 41, was an alleged member of the notorious death squad, a paramilitary division of the presidential guard that reported directly to Jammeh.
Many of these crimes carried out by the Junglers were highlighted by the private independent press and human rights organisations during the regime.
Members of the Junglers confessed to committing torture and other serious human rights abuses during the proceedings of the fact-finding probe of the Truth Reconciliation and Reparations Commission (TRRC) held between 2018 and 2020 in The Gambia.
Former Junglers told the TRRC that Correa not only tortured individuals suspected of planning the 2006 coup, but also participated in numerous other extrajudicial killings, including those of journalists Dayda Hydara and Chief Ebrima Manneh in 2012, and the murder of Gambian-Americans Alhagie Mamut Ceesay and Ebou Jobe in 2013.
On September 17, 2019, the U.S. Department of Homeland Security arrested Correa in Denver, Colorado for overstaying his visa. Following news of his detention, a coalition of human rights organisations and Correa’s victims, including Center for Justice and Accountability (CJA), the African Network Against Extrajudicial Killings and Enforced Disappearances (ANEKED), the Gambia Center for Victims of Human Rights Violations, the Guernica Centre for International Justice, Human Rights Watch, the Solo Sandeng Foundation, and TRIAL International called on the United States to investigate the credible allegations of grave international crimes committed by Correa in Gambia.
On February 18, 2020, U.S. Senators Patrick Leahy and Richard Durbin also urged the government to investigate Correa and, if warranted, to prosecute him in the United States.
On June 11, 2020, the U.S. Attorney for the District of Colorado announced Correa’s indictment on six counts of torture and one count of conspiracy to commit torture. Following this announcement, the Gambian Ministry of Justice issued a press release in support of the indictment. The indictment alleges that Correa and other Junglers severely beat their victims with plastic pipes, wires, and branches, suffocated them with plastic bags, dripped molten plastic and acid on their bodies, and subjected them to electric shocks, causing severe pain and suffering. The case is scheduled to go to trial in September of 2024.
With this development, a new date for the trial will be announced by the court, following the depositions from witnesses Hydara and Jeng.
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