Gambia court charges soldiers with coup plot
Banjul, Gambia, (MILLAT ONLINE):A Gambian military court on Monday charged 10 soldiers with treason and mutiny for plotting to overthrow the country’s newly elected government in July, and two more with helping a sergeant evade arrest.
Elements of The Gambia’s armed forces are known to have maintained support for former president Yahya Jammeh following his ouster from power after 22 years in January, but detailed evidence of a rumoured coup plot is only just emerging.
The 10 soldiers “prepared or endeavoured to overthrow the democratically elected government of The Gambia by unlawful means and thereby committed an offence,” a court document seen by AFP showed.
The men were arrested in July, army officials had previously told AFP, and have been held without trial, long beyond the three-day limit of the Gambian constitution.
The two soldiers charged with lesser offences are accused of “negligent interference” and “negligent interference with lawful custody” after helping a soldier escape and not informing their superiors.
Jammeh’s iron grip on the army and the intelligence services led to the deployment of West African troops in the tiny nation in order to ensure security for President Adama Barrow, who beat him in elections in December.
A Senegalese contingent remains in place, and its commander Colonel Magatte Ndiaye said in July that rebel elements were intent on destabilising the country and working with exiled Jammeh-era top brass, though President Barrow dismissed those reports are “hugely exaggerated”.