A former soldier of the Gambia National Army, Lamin Senghore, has denied any involvement in extrajudicial killings and torture during the AFPRC Junta rule.

Senghore, who was nicknamed the assassin during his time in the army, told the TRRC on Monday that the allegations levelled against him were untrue and fabricated.

Other witnesses to the TRRC had named Senghore as one of the junta soldiers that tortured and killed the captured mutineers of the failed November 11, 1994 countercoup.

But Senghore denied all that in his testimony to the TRRC and gave his own version of event.

He said that the Junta leaders had a meeting at State House on November 10, 1994 with the sole aim of foiling an alleged coup. He added that some junior officers and orderlies were co-opted to join the group that were designated to arrest the coup plotters.  

The group of junta soldiers, he said, were led by the then junta vice chairman, Lt Sana Sabally and left for Yundum Barracks where the coup plotters were planning to stage the coup from.

Senghore said at Yundum Barracks they were able to overcome the mutineers  after some of them deserted their posts. He said the alleged coup leader, Lt Basirou Barrow, was arrested along with Lt Abdoulie Dot Faal and A.J Darboe.

He said after successfully taking over the Yundum Barracks, the group of junta soldiers headed to Fajara Barracks where other alleged coup plotters were said to be rallying soldiers to their cause.

Senghore said they attacked Fajara Barracks via the back gate and started firing after forming an extended line where they advanced towards the guard room.

He revealed that during the shooting he collapsed after inhaling a large quantity of gunpowder smoke emitting from his gun and that he was taken to the guardroom on a stretcher to recover.  

He said after the barracks was seized some of the captured soldiers were taken to Mile Two prisons. He denied taking part in the killing of soldiers at Fajara Barracks.

Senghore told the commission that he was part of the team of soldiers led by Staff Sergeant Alagie Martins that went to Mile Two Prisons to interrogate the detained mutineers.   

He pointed out that he only participated in the interrogation of the second group of detained mutineers which included RSM Baboucarr Sanyang, Musa Ceesay and RSM Faye. He denied beating and torturing them. 

When the TRRC lead counsel, Essa Faal, challenged him that several of the victims, including Abdoulie Darboe and Mafugi Sonko, had testified to the TRRC and named him as one of their torturers.

Senghore disagreed with the allegations saying that “the situation at that moment was very chaotic. He might see me, know me as a person but anything that happens he might also say I was part of it.”

“You have a reason to because you want to save your skin. Selective amnesia… You’re trying to remember selectively the things that favour you,” Counsel Faal put it to him.

 Senghore “Not like that, counsel.”