Gambian president pardons 9 prisoners

BANJUL, Gambia: Gambian President Yahya Jammeh has announced the release of nine high-profile prisoners including military top brass and a Nigerian national axed as the country’s most senior judge over corruption. The pardons are the latest in an unexplained period of clemency since the military strongman celebrated 21 years in power earlier this month that has seen more than 200 inmates released.
The government, in a statement released late Thursday, named the judge, three military officers, three high-ranking drug enforcement agents and two others among those who had been released.
Former chief justice Joseph Wowo was jailed for two years in 2014 on a string of offenses ranging from fraud and abuse of office to conspiracy to pervert the course of justice and interfering with witnesses.
The other pardoned prisoners include former naval commander Mamut Sarr, whom civil rights activists say was kept in Banjul’s notorious Mile Two prison for six years without trial.
High ranking army officers Mam Matarr Secka and Kuluteh Manneh, convicted of various drugs offenses, weren’t due for release until 2023. A relative confirmed late Thursday that Secka had been freed and reunited with his family.