A Gambian man linked to a brutal security unit under ex-dictator Yahya Jammeh has been sentenced to more than 67 years in a U.S. prison for his role in torturing political opponents in 2006, the U.S. Department of Justice announced on Friday.
Michael Sang Correa, 46, was found guilty in April by a federal jury in Colorado of participating in the torture of multiple individuals accused of involvement in a coup attempt against then-President Jammeh.
Victims were subjected to severe abuse, including beatings and having their flesh burned.
Senior U.S. District Judge Christine Arguello sentenced Correa to 810 months (over 67 years) after convicting him on one count of conspiracy to commit torture and five counts of torture.
The case marks the first-ever criminal prosecution tied to the notorious Gambian paramilitary unit known as the Junglers.
Operating as a shadowy arm of the Gambian military, the Junglers were directly loyal to Jammeh and accused of carrying out a campaign of terror during his 22-year rule.
Rights groups and victims say their tactics grew even more violent after a failed coup attempt in 2006.
Correa was arrested in the U.S. in 2020 under a federal law allowing the prosecution of individuals for acts of torture committed abroad, if they are found on U.S. soil.
During Jammeh’s regime, suspected coup plotters and government critics were routinely detained and brought to the National Intelligence Agency compound near the capital, Banjul.
Survivors describe being tortured in secret chambers electrocuted, beaten, and burned with acid.
Jammeh, who ruled Gambia from 1994 until his electoral defeat in 2016, has denied ordering torture during his time in power. He now lives in exile in Equatorial Guinea.
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