By Adama Makasuba
Bai Lowe, one of former President Yahya Jammeh’s death squad members, has been sentenced to life in prison in Germany. Bai was standing trial for his role in the assassination of a Gambian journalist who co-owned Point Newspaper, Deyda Hydara, in 2004.
Bai Lowe was convicted of crimes against humanity, murder, and attempted murder for his role as a driver for the hit squad known as the Junglers. Prosecutors had asked judges at the court in the northern town of Celle to hand a life sentence to Lowe, who denies the charges against him.
The Junglers unit was “used by the then-president of The Gambia to carry out illegal killing orders, among other things,” with the aim of “intimidating the Gambian population and suppressing the opposition,” according to federal prosecutors.
Lowe was found to have helped to stop Hydara’s car and drove one of the killers in his vehicle.
The trial began last year and is “the first to tackle human rights violations committed in The Gambia during the Jammeh era based on universal jurisdiction,” according to Human Rights Watch.
