Three out of the eight soldiers convicted of treason in May 2019 by a military court in Yundum barrack have been freed by the Appeals Court, overturning the decision of the General Court Martial.
Captain Yahya Jammeh who is cousin and former military aide to President Yahya Jammeh, Lieutenant Abdullah Jarju and Lieutenant Yahya Jammeh were acquitted and discharged on Monday.
The four whose jail terms were also nine years have their sentences drastically reduced to 3 years by the Court of Appeals. Charges of treason, mutiny and felony were dropped and replaced with two counts of false information and negligence of duty, thus the four would serve 3 years in jail with leniency.
“Today, we have secured the acquittal and discharge of treason charges for our clients,” said Sheriff Kumba Jobe, Counsel for the freed soldiers.
“For the other offenses, the first, second and third appellants were acquitted and discharged.”
Jobe did not mention who those were and the nature of the “other offenses,” but could be referring to Captain Yahya Jammeh, Lt. Abdoulie Jarju, Lt. Yahya Jammeh, who were considered the ringleaders of the plot.
The military court in Yundum, brought nine counts of charges against the soldiers. It sentenced seven of the accused to nine years in prison and one got three years.
Captain Yahya Jammeh, Lt. Abdoulie Jarju, Lt. Yahya Jammeh, Sgt. Babucarr Sanneh, Sgt. Malick Bojang, and Lance Corporal Abba Badjie and Private Mbemba Camara were handed the nine-year sentence, while Private Alieu Sanneh was given the three-year sentence.
Captain Yahya Jammeh and his men are accused of conniving on WhatsApp to overthrow Barrow’s government and reinstalling former President Yahya Jammeh, who has been in exile in Equatorial Guinea since losing elections to Barrow.
Gambian prosecutors said the soldier’s plans included arresting cabinet ministers, the Chairman of the electoral commission, senior military officials, and attack military installations. They have denied these allegations throughout their trial.
After the conviction of the soldiers, they were also dismissed from the army. The dishonorable discharge meant they lost all their benefits. Jobe did not say if the men have been reinstated to the army, or if they will be.
The Gambia court of Appeals has earlier today acquitted and discharged three military officers who were initially convicted and eventually sentenced to 9 years jail term sometime in 2017.