By Tabora Bojang
The case as to whether some members of former president Jammeh’s death squad, the Junglers, could qualify for amnesty and witness protection in order to secure conviction for “big” Junglers was raised at yesterday’s press conference convened by the MoJ.
Addressing the issue at a press briefing on the appointment of a special prosecutor on Jammeh era crimes, the Attorney General and Minister of Justice Dawda Jallow said he had an opportunity in the past to enter into an amnesty agreement with some Junglers but he declined because it was a “bit premature” at the time.
“That responsibility [whether to give amnesty] is now entrusted to the Special Prosecutor, and as he decides who to prosecute, he will simultaneously decide who he needs as witness. If he [Special Prosecutor] thinks in order for him to succeed against the Junglers he wants to prosecute, he will need some of the Junglers to be witnesses, he will take that independent decision without government influence,” Jallow said.
He said government is aware of the Truth Commission’s recommendation that some Junglers are best suitable as witnesses.
According to the minister, it is difficult to get an outsider who could be a “very good witness against the Junglers” since the nature of their operation is complex.
“They operated in a complex way that to succeed in getting the big players, some of them should be used as witnesses. But we are leaving that to a prosecutorial discretion because of the issue of perception. We have faced those challenges where we wanted to do certain things but they will always ask you “if I have to cooperate now, what do I get in return” and I really said to myself, no it is too early for me to start any amnesty arrangement with anybody but now that the prosecutor is in office, it will be entirely to him to decide who to prosecute, who to use as witness and what kind of plea bargain to enter into,” the minister stated.
Jallow also stated that his ministry has developed a prosecution strategy which created different tiers of prosecutorial culpability. “The strategy stated that those in tier 1 must be prosecuted, those in tier 2 can be prosecuted but can also be good witnesses and there is the 3rd tier that the prosecution strategy recommended are best when used as witnesses,” Jallow added. He clarified though that it is up to the discretion of the Special Prosecutor to decide on that strategy.
On extradition of other Junglers from other countries, the minister disclosed that the extradition process will soon start. “Whenever the Special Prosecutor reaches a point where he wants somebody to be extradited, from now on those actions will start,” he added.
