The US trial on torture charges of a former Gambian soldier who was allegedly a member of a notorious death squad known as the “Junglers” has been postponed at the last minute.

Michael Sang Correa, 45, a former captain in the Gambian military, was scheduled to go on trial in a federal court in Denver, Colorado, on Monday.

But the presiding judge granted a defense motion on Wednesday to delay the trial to allow Correa’s attorneys to travel to The Gambia to collect videotaped depositions from two witnesses.

A new trial date has not been set. It is not expected to be held until next year.

Correa was indicted in June 2020 and faces six counts of inflicting torture and one count of conspiracy to commit torture. Each count is punishable by up to 20 years in prison.

He is being tried in the United States for crimes committed in his home country under what is known as universal jurisdiction, which allows for prosecution of torture, genocide and war crimes.

According to Human Rights Watch and Trial International, Correa’s torture trial is just the third of its kind to be held in the United States and the first involving a non-US citizen.

Correa entered the United States in 2016 to work as a bodyguard for Gambia’s vice president, who was visiting the United Nations.

He stayed in the country and moved to Denver at some point after Gambian dictator Yahya Jammeh, who ruled the country with an iron fist from 1994 to 2017, was voted out of office.

Correa was arrested by US authorities in September 2019, initially for overstaying his visa.

(AFP)