Germany has charged former soldier Bai Lowe with murder and attempted murder over crimes committed in The Gambia.

Lowe is also accused of the 2004 killing of Deyda Hydara, editor of The Point newspaper. 

German prosecutors alleged that Lowe worked as a driver for a hit squad known as the Junglers between December 2003 and December 2006.

“This unit was used by the then president of Gambia to carry out illegal killing orders, among other things” with the aim of “intimidating the Gambian population and suppressing the opposition”, prosecutors in the city of Karlsruhe said on Thursday.

The case is being brought on the principle of universal jurisdiction, which allows a foreign country to prosecute crimes against humanity, including war crimes and genocide, regardless of where they were committed.

Germany has been particularly active in pursuing such cases linked to the Syrian regime, and in January sentenced a former Syrian colonel to life in jail for crimes against humanity.

Bai Lowe was arrested in Hanover in March 2021 and has since been in pre-trial detention.