Seven former National Intelligence Agency officers have been sentenced to death for killing political activist Ebrima Solo Sandeng.

Banjul High Court judge Kumba Sillah- Camara convicted Yankuba Badjie, former director general of National Intelligence Agency, Sheikh Omar Jeng, Babucarr Sallah, Tamba Masireh, Haruna Suso, Lamin Darboe and Lang Sanyang on charges of murder. 

The officers were also convicted for other  charges including torture. 

In a landmark marathon judgement with more than 350 pages, the court held that the convicts are guilty of torturing Nogoi Njie and other UDP protesters who were detained at Mile 2 after the April 16, 2016 UDP protest.

Solo Sandeng, a senior UDP official and other party activists, were detained in 2016 by the Jammeh regime for staging a protest demanding electoral reforms. 

Sandeng died in the custody of the National Intelligence Agency while being interrogated for his role in the protest. 

He was hastily buried by state agents without the permission of his family. His body was later found buried in a makeshift grave in the fishing town of Tanji.

Other protesters who were severely beaten and tortured but survived included Nogoi Njie and Fatoumatta Jawara. 

Their brutal treatment by the Jammeh regime unleashed a wave of anger among many in the country that led to Jammeh’s defeat in the polls in the December election in 2016. 

Reporting by Adama Makasuba