Former ECOWAS VP Edward Singhateh to appear before Gambia Truth Commission
Banjul, Gambia (PANA) - Former ECOWAS Vice-President Edward Singhateh, implicated in the brutal murder of former Gambian finance minister Ousman Koro Ceesay in June 1995 and other killings, has arrived in The Gambia to appear before the Truth, Reconciliation and Reparations Commission (TRRC).
According to a reliable source, Singhateh returned voluntarily to testify on the human rights abuses he allegedly committed.
He became vice-chairman of the military junta, the Armed Forces Provisional Ruling Council (AFPRC) government led by former chairman and later president of The Gambia, Yahya Jammeh.
Singhateh succeeded Sana B. Sabally, first vice-chairman, who was arrested just about seven months into the transitional government and later jailed for nine years for plotting a coup.
Sabally had earlier testified before the TRRC where he accused the junta leaders of subjecting him to different kinds of torture including forcing him to eat his own excreta.
The Executive Secretary, Truth, Reconciliation and Reparation Commission TRRC, Dr Baba Galleh Jallow, Monday confirmed to PANA the arrival of the former Armed Forces Provisional Ruling Council (AFPRC) vice chairman Singhateh, revealing that he was expected to appear before the TRRC sometime during the week, "most likely on Wednesday or Thursday".
"We wish to inform the general public that speculations and reports making the rounds that former AFPRC vice chairman Edward Singhateh will appear before the Commission on Monday, October 14 are not entirely accurate," he alluded.
Meanwhile, Jallow further reiterated that the session starting Monday would focus on sexual and gender-based violence, adding that the commission hoped to hear testimonies on other issues during the three-week period.
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