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The Victim’s Podcast
Welcome to The Victims Podcast – The Voice of Justice, Accountability and Healing.
The Victims Podcast is the first-ever podcast in The Gambia dedicated to amplifying the voices of victims of human rights violations. We provide a platform for survivors, families, and advocates to share their stories, demand justice, and contribute to the country’s transitional justice process.
Through powerful storytelling, in-depth discussions, and expert insights, we shed light on past atrocities, advocate for accountability, and ensure that the voices of victims are never silenced. Our mission is to keep the conversation alive, push for meaningful reforms, and create a space for truth, healing, and justice.
The Victim’s Podcast
When Michael Correa's Victims Finally Speak: Inside a Historic US Torture Trial in Denver - Colorado
The Michael Correa trial currently unfolding in Denver, Colorado represents a watershed moment in international justice and accountability for crimes committed under authoritarian regimes. As a former "jungler" - a member of ex-Gambian President Yahya Jammeh's feared death squad - Correa stands accused of torture, extrajudicial killings, and crimes against humanity. This case marks the first time a jungler has faced trial in the United States under federal laws that permit prosecution for torture regardless of where the crimes occurred.
The testimony emerging from the courtroom paints a harrowing picture of life under Jammeh's dictatorship. Second Lieutenant Pharing Sanyang's account stands out as particularly compelling. When ordered by President Jammeh himself to assassinate journalist Dada Hydra, Sanyang took the extraordinary risk of refusing, suggesting instead that proper legal channels should be followed if Hydra was suspected of wrongdoing. This moral stance ultimately placed Sanyang on a kill list, subjected him to brutal torture, and eventually forced him to flee for his life.
The trial has revealed the systematic nature of torture employed by the regime. Witnesses have described being taken to Mile 2 state prison and the National Intelligence Agency headquarters where they endured cigarette burns, bayonet stabbings, pistol-whipping, and near-fatal beatings. Thamsi Jassay, an American-trained naval officer, recounted how Correa personally suffocated him with a plastic bag, forcing him to bite a hole in it just to breathe. The testimony included chilling details of how torturers would call President Jammeh during torture sessions, allowing him to hear the victims' screams over the phone.
What emerges beyond the horrific details of physical torture is a picture of moral resistance. Despite being offered material rewards, including a new pickup truck, to join the junglers, Sanyang maintained his ethical stance. His testimony challenges the defense's narrative that the junglers were merely victims themselves, forced to comply with orders or face death. Sanyang's response was clear: "I told the truth because they were looking for the truth." This statement encapsulates the courage required to stand against tyranny, even when doing so comes at potentially fatal costs.
The Michael Correa case represents more than just individual accountability; it symbolizes a crucial step in Gambia's journey toward national healing and reconciliation. By bringing these crimes to light in an American courtroom, survivors are not only seeking justice for themselves but are creating an international record of the atrocities committed under Jammeh's rule. This trial serves as a powerful reminder that geographic boundaries should not limit accountability for human rights violations, and that the passage of time does not diminish the need for justice.
Creator and Host : Ayeshah Harun , Co - Hosts : Lamin and Fatou
Let's keep the Memories of Victims Alive
Hello everyone, welcome back to another episode of the Victims Podcast. Today we bring you trial update day four on the Michael Sung Korea case here in Denver, colorado. He refused to kill a journalist. For that he was tortured, nearly killed, marked for dead by the former president. This is Two Truths in the Shadows, and in today's episode we take you inside a US courtroom where survivors of Gambia's brutal dictatorship speak out for the first time on American soil. At the center of it all, it was Michael Zangoria, a former jungler. It was Michael Sancoria, a former jungler. I am your host, aysa Dujame.
Speaker 1:In a Denver District Court, an intense and emotional trial is unfolding. Michael Sancoria, one of the right-hand men of the former president Yaya Dujame, stands accused of torture, extrajudicial executions and crimes against humanity. He's the first jungler to ever face trial in the us under a federal law that allows prosecutions of torture regardless of where it took place and the witnesses. They have survived beatings, imprisonments, betrayals and exact, but now they speak. One of them is second lieutenant firing sanya, a former officer in the gambia armed forces. He took the stand and revealed a story that is both courageous and chilling. Mr sanyam was asked by the prosecutor. Sanyang was asked by the prosecutor were you ever asked to commit an act of violence by someone in the Jammies regime? Mr Sanyang responded yes. The prosecutor further asked who asked you to do that? He responded it was the former president Jammie. The prosecutor asked again what did he ask you to do? Mr Sanyang responded he asked me to assassinate Dada Hydra. Wow, dada Hydra, a respected journalist, a critic of Jame. He was later murdered, shot dead by members of the junglers. But before that happened, sanyang was the first to be approached with the kill order. He said no. He told Jame that if Haidara was suspected of anything, it should be investigated properly by the police or the courts, not with bullets, not with an execution. And Jami replied. He came back, repeated the order we must do this, he said, refusing again Sanyang said he was placed on a kill list, targeted, tortured and eventually he escaped. But what happened before? That is a story of brutality that few could imagine.
Speaker 1:After a failed coup attempt in 2006, sanyang and several other soldiers Bunja Dabo, yaya Wasa, kamara, major Per Mendy and others were accused of plotting to overthrow the former President Jammeh. Sanyang insisted he wasn't involved. But that didn't stop. What came next? He was taken to Mile 2 state prisons and then to the NIA, the National Intelligence Agency. There he met his torturers, sanyang said. Sanyang said Michael Jada, remove his uniform, bond my soldier with a cigarette. Then he stabbed me in the hand with a bayonet he described being pistol whipped, nearly kicked to death and taken to a graveyard where the beatings only got worse. At one point he bled so much the blood ran into his eyes and soaked his uniforms. Photos of his scars, cigarette buns, bayonet wounds, were shown in court. The torture didn't stop there.
Speaker 1:Another witness, thamsi Jassay, an American-trained former naval officer, described his own nightmare. He had helped a cool leader flee the country and for that he was arrested. In Jassay's voice they told me to confess or to be beaten. And beaten. He was at the NIA. Justice said Correa himself, with a black plastic bag over his head, sophisticated him. He bit a hold in it just to breed. When some junglers backed off Correa, he said continue beating him, mocking his American citizenship and telling him over the phone Can you hear him scream? He said this to Jame over the phone.
Speaker 1:And yet the courtroom saw more than just pain. It saw resistance. Sanyang refused to become a killer. He was even offered a brand new Mishu Mishu pickup truck to join the junglers. He turned it down. He said I did not feel it was legal. He also confirmed that he trained some of the junglers himself, including Korea confirmed that he trained some of the junglers himself, including Correa, back when he served as commander of the commando unit at State House, so he knew what they were capable of. He had helped shaped the very force that would later try to destroy him in a cross-examination.
Speaker 1:Corey's lawyer argued that the junglers wasn't just monsters, they were also victims forced to obey or die. But Sanyang disagreed. I told the truth, he said, because they were looking for the truth. He recalled calling General Solbaji trying to kill him in a stage car crash. He survived, but barely. This wasn't just a dictatorship, it was a machine on where fear, loyalty and brutality were all in the same place.
Speaker 1:The stories imagined from this trial are more than just evidence. They are memories carried in scars and voices long silent by tyranny. They reveal the true cost of standing up to power and they challenge us to listen, to remember and to never forget. That is it for today of truths in shadows. Next time you will hear more from the survivors, those who flee, those who stay and those who still wait back for justice. If this story moves, you share it, talk about it, because silence only serves the powerful. I am your host, isa de jame, and you're listening to the victims podcast. Until we come your way another day, another time, please follow our tiktok, our facebook pages and our youtube channels. We also have an Instagram where you can follow. You can also follow us on Apple Podcasts, spotify and all the podcast platforms. You would get updates on the Michael Sancoria trial here in Denver, colorado. Thank you for listening.