Former Junglers leader Sanna Manjang appears in military trial in The Gambia

Sanna Manjang has appeared before a military court in Banjul on charges of desertion, in a case linked to The Gambia's efforts to address abuses committed under former president Yahya Jammeh. Manjang, who once led the paramilitary unit known as the Junglers, is accused of leaving the armed forces in 2017 after Jammeh lost power and went into exile. The hearing marks another step in a long-running accountability process that has continued since the end of Jammeh's 20-year rule.

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The court case centres on an allegation that Manjang was absent for a continuous period of nine years with the intention of deserting. He was arrested in Senegal last November and repatriated to The Gambia a month later. According to the supplied material, a murder case against him was dropped in July, and he is now facing a separate military proceeding.

The case is being heard in the capital, Banjul. The Junglers operated independently from the Gambian army and have long been accused by the United Nations of extrajudicial killings and torture. The group has been closely associated with abuses alleged to have taken place during Jammeh's rule.

The Truth, Reconciliation and Reparations Commission later found that between 240 and 250 people were killed by the state and documented evidence of widespread extrajudicial killings, torture, kidnappings, witch hunts and other abuses. Those findings have shaped the country's continuing legal and political reckoning with the past. Manjang's appearance comes against the backdrop of broader efforts to pursue accountability for alleged crimes committed under Jammeh.

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After losing power in 2016 to Adama Barrow, then the opposition leader and now president, Jammeh left the country and the TRRC was established. The commission's work has made former security figures central to the justice process, including members of the Junglers who have faced proceedings in other countries such as Germany, Switzerland and the United States. The latest hearing therefore carries significance beyond one defendant, because it reflects how The Gambia is still dealing with the legacy of state violence.

Manjang had previously been charged with four counts of murder, including the killing of journalist Deyda Hydara in 2004, but those charges were dropped in July because witnesses could not be summoned. The supplied material says he was also accused of killing three other men, including one he personally decapitated. He is now being tried separately over the desertion allegation, while an assault case involving two other men is also ongoing.

That sequence shows how the legal process around him has continued to evolve even after earlier charges were withdrawn. What remains unclear from the available material is how long the military trial will last and whether further charges could follow. It is also not clear whether the desertion case will affect the separate proceedings already under way.

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