Former Jungler Michael Correa’s US Trial Postponed to Allow Defense File a Deposition
Former Jungler, Michael Correa
By Yusef Taylor, @FlexDan_YT
The trial of former Jungler, Michael Correa in the United States set to commence on the 16th and conclude on the 27th of September 2024 has been postponed indefinitely to allow the Defense to file a Deposition. Given that the trial has been postponed, a date will be communicated as soon as new hearing dates are booked and confirmed with the courts.
Scheduled to take place in Denver Colorado next week, the Universal Jurisdiction case which will see the former Jungler face charges of torture; including beatings, electric shocks and wrapping his victims heads with plastic bags will now have to be rescheduled. This was confirmed after a notice was received in the early hours of the morning highlighting that Michael Correa had filed two motions with one being accepted while the second motion was rejected.
According to the notice, the motions filed by Correa last week argued that “he intended to present testimony from Momodou Hydara and Alieu Jeng at trial”, which he believes will support his argument that “he was coerced to and under duress when he allegedly assaulted the individuals listed in the indictment”.
The tricky part is that Correa claims that “Hydara and Jeng refused to travel to the United States unless the United States government provided them with immunity from prosecution. The United States declined to offer that immunity”.
Due to this, Correa filed two motions which included for “the judge to dismiss the case against him, because the government was not facilitating the attendance of his witnesses”. In reaction to the motion the notice states that “yesterday, the court denied Correa's motion to dismiss the claims against him”.
The second motion filed by Correa requested for “the court to delay the trial while his attorneys traveled to The Gambia to take depositions from Hydara and Jeng. Depositions are a form of video recorded testimony, that can be presented in exceptional circumstances where a witness cannot travel to court. [Yesterday afternoon US Time], the judge granted Correa's motion”.
Momodou Hydara is mentioned once in the TRRC Junglers report as being involved in the investigation of Military Officers after the 2006 failed coup. He was highlighted as the then National Intelligence Agency Director who featured in the investigative panel where several officers were tortured. Alieu Jeng is a former member of the Junglers who is mentioned multiple times in the TRRC Junglers report. Alieu Jeng is identified as a founding member of the Patrol Team where he served as one of four Deputies to Tumbul Tamba, including Solo Bojang, Sanna Manjang and Malick Jatta.
The Junglers were a private para-military assassination squad that reported directly to former President Jammeh via their Commander Tumbul Tamba. This killing squad known as Black Black and Patrol Team executed numerous individuals considered as opponents of the former President.
After the postponement of the Michael Correa Trial in the United States, a new court date will be scheduled with the courts. Askanwi will continue to follow the Trial and provide an update as soon as possible.
