A man from Gambia, Michael Sang Correa, has been found guilty on seven counts by the Denver District Court for his involvement in the alleged torture of prisoners as instructed by a former Gambian dictator. This trial is particularly notable as it was pursued under a law that is rarely utilized, permitting individuals to be prosecuted in the United States for acts of torture committed in other countries.
Correa, who hails from Gambia in West Africa, was indicted in 2020 for charges related to torturing six individuals and participating in a scheme to torture individuals accused of plotting a coup while serving with the Junglers, a military unit directly under former Gambian president Yahya Jammeh back in 2006.
Federal officials are holding a news conference after the verdict was reached in the case against Correa. Watch it live in the video player below.
Correa was the first non-U.S. citizen to be tried under Title 18 U.S. torture laws.
According to prosecutors, Correa arrived in the U.S. in 2016 to act as a bodyguard for ex-President Jammeh and continued residing in the country after Jammeh was overthrown in 2017, having exceeded the duration of his visa. They further stated that Correa had been living in Denver and working as a daily wage laborer after his arrival in the United States.
Crime
Denver man accused in Gambian torture crimes, feds say
U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officials said in a news release at the time of Correa’s indictment that the Junglers were composed of individuals selected from the ranks of Gambia Armed Forces (GAF) but operated outside the regular GAF chain of command. After learning individuals within Gambia were attempting to overthrow his government, Jammeh arrested them and “subjected to severe physical and mental abuses,” according to the indictment.
Prosecutors alleged Correa and other members of the Junglers severely beat their victims, suffocated them with plastic bags, and inflicted other forms of torture. In one case, he beat a victim with sticks, palm branches, and wires and extinguished a cigarette on the victim, the indictment read.
In court last week, victims who traveled from Gambia, Europe and elsewhere in the U.S. recalled the number of ways in which they were tortured.
Correa’s lawyers did dispute that the defendant was involved in the torture of at least one of the victims, even though the victim said Correa, like the other Junglers, was wearing a face mask. He said he knew Correa from working with him at the president’s official home and recognized his “walking gait.”
But the suspect’s lawyers argued Correa was a low-ranking private who risked being tortured himself or even killed if he refused Jammeh’s orders.
Local
Gambian torture victims testify against member of former dictator’s military
In 2021, a truth commission in Gambia urged that the perpetrators of crimes committed under Jammeh’s regime be prosecuted by the government. Other countries have also tried people connected with his rule.
Last year, Jammeh’s former interior minister was sentenced to 20 years behind bars by a Swiss court for crimes against humanity. In 2023, a German court convicted a Gambian man who was also a member of the Junglers of murder and crimes against humanity for involvement in the killing of government critics in Gambia.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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Last Updated on April 15, 2025 by 247 News Around The World
