By Buba Gagigo
Michael Sang Correa, a former member of ex-President Yahya Jammeh’s notorious paramilitary unit known as the “Junglers,” broke down in tears in a U.S. courtroom as he pleaded for leniency before being sentenced to 67 years and six months in prison for torture.
Clad in a prison uniform, handcuffs, and chains, Correa appeared before Federal Judge Christine M. Arguello, flanked by two U.S. marshals and seated between his attorneys. Speaking through tears, he apologized to his victims and their families, admitting responsibility for his actions.
“There’s no doubt that the victims were tortured. I would like to sincerely apologize from the bottom of my heart to the victims and their families. Nobody should go through what they went through, and if there is any way I would revise what happened, I will. I take full responsibility for my actions,” Correa said.
He also expressed remorse for the impact on his own family. “I also apologize to my family, to my sons. I apologize for what is happening to them because of me. They have stopped going to school because of the continuous bullying and harassment they faced in school. They are told their father is a monster. I am not proud of what I did. Faring Sanyang is here; he was one of my instructors, and Pierre Mendy was the one who groomed me. I feel so emotional seeing his wife here. As I speak, I have a vision problem; I can’t see far. Please give me a chance to be with my family,” Michael Sang Correa said.
Before Michael Sang Correa addressed the court, video recordings of Gambian torture survivors were played, with victims pleading for the judge to impose the maximum sentence. Among those featured were Malick Mboob, former communications officer at the Edward Francis Small Teaching Hospital (EFSTH); Lamin Fatty, former journalist with the Independent Newspaper; Madi Ceesay, former managing director of the Independent Newspaper; Abdoulie Conteh, former mayor of the Kanifing Municipal Council (KMC); Mamut Sarr of the Gambia Armed Forces; and Ramzia Diab, former National Assembly Member.
In addition, Yahya Darboe, Faring Sanyang, Demba Dem, and Tamsir Jassey delivered in-person statements in court, also urging the judge to hand down a lengthy sentence.
Following these testimonies, U.S. District Judge Christine M. Arguello sentenced Correa to 810 months—or 67.5 years—in prison for acts of torture committed in The Gambia in 2006.
Correa was first arrested in September 2019 by the U.S. Department of Homeland Security for overstaying an expired visa. Soon after, a coalition of his victims, Gambian civil society groups, and international human rights organizations—including the Center for Justice and Accountability (CJA) and TRIAL International—called on U.S. authorities to investigate allegations of torture. This advocacy led to his indictment in 2020. CJA, alongside King & Spalding LLP, represented five of Correa’s victims during the prosecution.
In April, a unanimous jury found Correa guilty of torture and conspiracy to commit torture. Trial evidence confirmed that he was a member of the Junglers, a notorious death squad under former President Yahya Jammeh. Victims and witnesses testified that, following a failed coup attempt in 2006, Correa and other Junglers brutally tortured suspected coup participants through beatings, suffocation with plastic bags, and electric shocks.