The defence lawyer for Yankuba Touray has confirmed that he will be appealing the death sentence handed out yesterday at the Banjul High Court. 

The former member of the AFPRC junta led by Gambia strongman Yahya Jammeh was convicted yesterday for the extrajudicial killing of ex-finance minister Ousman Koro Ceesay in 1994. He was sentenced to death by hanging. 

“We’re going to file an appeal. I will talk to my client, hopefully, we will file an appeal,” lawyer Abdoulie Sissoho told reporters. 

Meanwhile, the death sentence given to the 54-year-old former minister of local government has attracted mixed reactions  among Gambians. Some who are sympathetic to him deemed it harsh while others welcomed the verdict as a “fair judgement”.

The Gambia has placed a moratorium on death penalty since 2018 following the killings of nine inmates in 2012

by former president Yahya Jammeh, who now lives in exile in Equatorial Guinea.