Gambiaj.com – (Banjul, the Gambia)- In 2016, Michael Sang Correa moved to the United States of America with a diplomatic passport he obtained during the regime of former Gambian despot Yahya Jammeh.

After the change of government in 2017, the then new government of President Adama Barrow established the Truth, Reconciliation, and Reparation Commission (TRRC), to look into the abuse of human rights under Yahya Jammeh.

During the hearing of the Commission, Michael Sang Correa was one of the names widely mentioned by the victims of torture and abuse of human rights.

In 2019, Mr. Correa was arrested by the U.S authorities and was subsequently detained. Mr. Correa was a member of the Junglers, a notorious death squad in The Gambia.

Earlier this year, on April 15, 2025, after a five-day trial in U.S. federal court, a Denver jury found Michael Sang Correa guilty of five counts of torture and one count of conspiracy to commit torture.

On the 12th of August 2025, The Centre for Justice and Accountability, and Trial International, have announced that the U.S. Federal Court will be conducting the sentencing hearing of former Jungler, Michael Sang Correa on August 22, 2025, in Denver, Colorado, USA.

Judge Christine M. Arguello, who presided over the trial, scheduled Mr. Correa’s sentencing for August 22, 2025. Mr. Correa faces up to 120 years in prison.

Before the sentencing, the victims of torture and abuse would deliver a statement before the presiding judge.

During the trial,, these victims and witnesses who travelled to Colorado from The Gambia testified that in 2006, Mr. Correa and other Junglers brutally tortured suspected participants in an attempted coup against former President Yahya Jammeh.

Fatou Baldeh, Founder & CEO of Women in Liberation and Leadership (WILL), attended the trial.

“It was very moving sitting in front of Mr. Correa and seeing the evidence presented by the prosecution,” she said. “The victims were afforded an opportunity to face their perpetrator, and you could see they got their power back.”

Zainab Lowe, a prominent victims’ rights advocate in The Gambia, was also present in Denver for the trial.

“The jury’s unanimous verdict was felt all the way in The Gambia” she said. “It sent a strong message that The Gambia must continue to work to ensure all Junglers are held to account and that other victims of human rights abuses get justice.”

At the sentencing hearing, both the prosecution and the defense will present arguments in support of the sentences they believe should be imposed. Some of Mr. Correa’s victims will have an opportunity to present statements describing how Correa’s s crimes impacted their lives.

The U.S. government is recommending that Judge Arguello impose the maximum sentence of 120 years in prison.

“Correa’s conviction, together with a significant sentence will send a strong message to other Junglers and other human rights abusers, currently living with impunity that they will too face justice,” said Ayeshah Jammeh of the Gambian Centre for Victims of Human Rights Violations and the Victim’s Podcast.

“Correa’s sentencing also serves as a reminder to the Gambian government that there are still Junglers living freely in Banjul who must be brought to justice” said Muhammed Sandeng of the Solo Sandeng Foundation, “our government must follow through on its promise to establish a hybrid court to prosecute the remaining Jammeh era perpetrators.”

After sentencing, Mr. Correa can appeal the jury’s verdict on limited grounds.

Note: The source of certain details in the story is curl from the Centre for Justice and Accountability.