{"id":32798,"date":"2017-02-24T12:09:13","date_gmt":"2017-02-24T12:09:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/gambia-s-ex-spy-chief-8-others-charged-with\/"},"modified":"2017-02-24T12:09:11","modified_gmt":"2017-02-24T12:09:11","slug":"gambia-s-ex-spy-chief-8-others-charged-with","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/gambia-s-ex-spy-chief-8-others-charged-with\/","title":{"rendered":"Gambia&#8217;s ex-spy chief, 8 others charged with murder"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>{Gambia&#8217;s dreaded former spy chief \u2014 whose watch was marred by allegations of killings and torture \u2014 and eight subordinates were charged Thursday with killing a leading opposition member in April.}<\/p>\n<p>Yankuba Badjie headed the National Intelligence Agency, which rights groups say carried out arbitrary detentions, forced disappearances and torture during ousted strongman Yahya Jammeh&#8217;s 22-year rule.<\/p>\n<p>Badjie and the eight others pleaded not guilty to the charges by prosecutors.<\/p>\n<p>The nine men, including the NIA&#8217;s former director of operations, Saikou Omar Jeng, denied killing opposition figure Solo Sandeng of the main opposition UDP.<\/p>\n<p>Sandeng was arrested on April 14 last year while leading a demonstration for political reform and died in custody at the NIA headquarters.<\/p>\n<p>Two days later, protests erupted, prompting a security crackdown on demonstrators.<\/p>\n<p>UDP chief Ousainou Darboe, a human rights lawyer, and other party leaders, were subsequently arrested.<\/p>\n<p>In July, Darboe and about 30 other co-accused were sentenced to three years in jail for six offences related to the April protest.<\/p>\n<p>But on December 5, 2016, Darboe was freed on bail with 18 others, days after Jammeh lost the vote to outsider Adama Barrow.<\/p>\n<p>Barrow has promised to reform the NIA \u2014 changing its name, replacing its chief and promising training for staff whose work would be limited to &#8220;intelligence gathering, analysis and advice to the relevant arms of government&#8221;.<\/p>\n<figure class=\"spip-document spip-document-18449 aligncenter\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/en-images.igihe.com\/jpg\/pix-21.jpg\" alt=\"Gambian President Adama Barrow looks at the audience from the opened roof of a car as he arrives at the Independence Stadium in Bakau for the inauguration ceremony, on February 18, 2017. Barrow has promised to reform the National Intelligence Agency.\" \/><\/figure>\n<p>Source:AFP<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>{Gambia&#8217;s dreaded former spy chief \u2014 whose watch was marred by allegations of killings and torture \u2014 and eight subordinates were charged Thursday with killing a leading opposition member in April.} Yankuba Badjie headed the National Intelligence Agency, which rights groups say carried out arbitrary detentions, forced disappearances and torture during ousted strongman Yahya Jammeh&#8217;s [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[48],"tags":[100],"byline":[228],"hashtag":[],"class_list":["post-32798","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-politics-48","tag-africa","byline-afp"],"bylines":[{"id":228,"name":"AFP","slug":"afp","description":"Agence France-Presse is an international news agency headquartered in Paris. 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