The former president of the Gambia Press Union, Ndey Tapha Sosseh has told the Truth, Reconciliation and Reparations Commission (TRRC) that the current Foreign Minister, Momodou Tangara, had attempted to get her extradited from exile in Mali.

Ndey Tapha Sosseh made the revelation during her testimony before the TRRC on Thursday July 11.

She alleged that Tangara, who was also the Foreign Minister for the former Jammeh administration, visited Mali to get her extradited on the orders of Jammeh who accused her of planning a coup d’etat.

Ndey Tapha said she was in exile in Mali at the time working for the West African Journalist Association (WAJA) when she became aware of Minister Tangara’s shuttle diplomacy to get her extradited to Banjul.

She told the Commission about her persecution at the hands of the Jammeh administration and how she was a marked woman who was on the death list of the notorious paramilitary group and hit squad, The Jungulers.

Ms Tapha Sosseh alleged that a member of The Jungulers, who became an informant, had confided to her that he knew of at least hundred killings.

When asked if she could name the Junguler turned informant, Ms Tapha Sosseh refused to name him publicly but instead scribbled the name on paper and gave it to the TRRC Commissioners.

She said the Junguler told her the people who succumbed to death by poisoning allegedly carried out by agents of the former Jammeh regime.

Deyda Hydara assassination

Ms Tapha Sosseh told the Commission about the assassination of Deyda Hydara in December 2004.

She said the Junguler also confided in her that Deyda Hydara was assassinated on the orders of the former president Yahya Jammeh.

She added that the Junguler informed her that the former Interior Minister, Ousman Sonko, now facing trial in Switzerland for human rights abuses in The Gambia, was also a party to the plot to assassinate the veteran journalist.

Asked if the said Junguler revealed the actual perpetrators who shot Hydara, Ms Tapha Sosseh said those who took part were not named but according to the Junguler, the initial shot came from the commander of the group who was in close communication with Jammeh at the time of the attack.

She also told the Commission that the disappeared journalist Ebrima ‘Chief’ Manneh died during interrogation by NIA agents.

She said the informant also told her about the hit list with the names of prominent Gambian journalists who were supposed to be killed and it included Demba Ali Jawo, Baba Galleh Jallow, Ndey Tapha Sosseh Deyda Hydara among others.

Ndey Tapha Sosseh said theJunguler informed her that she should be grateful to the late Major Khalifa Bajinka that she was still alive.

She also gave details that forced her to flee the country and how her colleagues were sent to jail following a publication of a press release issued to mark the anniversary of the slain journalist Deyda Hydara.

The TRRC sitting continues.