GOV’T UNVEILS SPECIAL PROSECUTOR FOR JAMMEH ERA CRIMES
The Gambia has appointed British barrister Martin Hackett as the country’s Special Prosecutor to lead investigations and prosecutions of crimes documented by the Truth, Reconciliation and Reparations Commission (TRRC), Minister of Justice Dawda Jallow announced during a press conference yesterday.
According to Minister Jallow, Hackett is a senior category 4 Crown Prosecution Service prosecutor in the UK, and will head the Special Prosecutor’s Office, one of three pillars of The Gambia’s new Special Accountability Mechanism. He is expected to arrive in Banjul before the end of April.
“His term runs for four years starting April 2026, with the possibility of renewal as agreed by the parties and in line with the Special Prosecutor’s Office Act 2024, a novel initiative for global criminal Justice”,the minister said.
Jallow further revealed that the TRRC’s November 2021 recommendation called for 69 persons to be prosecuted for crimes committed between July 1994 and January 2017, including former President Yahya Jammeh.
He added that government has accepted all of the TRRC’s recommendations on prosecutions in its White Paper and between 2019 and 2024, it worked with Ecowas, the Gambia Bar Association, and national and international criminal justice experts to design the Special Accountability Mechanism.
“Careful thoughts have been placed in the design, and for the first time ever, a country is being seen to implement a comprehensive post conflict criminal justice framework that activates at the same time both domestic and international pathways for justice and accountability, including for atrocity crimes,” he said proudly.
According to Jallow, Martin Hackett has more than 30 years of experience in criminal and international law.
“His international experience includes, UN Special Tribunal for Lebanon, and also served as Senior Trial Counsel, leading investigations and prosecution of crimes of international terrorism, including presentation of technical, forensic and digital evidence on covert networks, surveillance and communications data and many more crime related cases,” the minister said of the prosecutor.
Selection process
He said an independent six- member selection panel was constituted by his office to recruit the senior management team of the office including the Special Prosecutor, Deputy Special Prosecutor, Head of Investigations and Chairperson of the Foreign Management Committee.
“The panel comprised a member appointed each by the government, Ecowas, the Gambia Bar Association, a representative of the Public Service Commission, and two high level experts in international criminal law appointed jointly by government and Ecowas,” he said.
The minister disclosed that the panel that oversaw the selection included prominent Gambians such as Fatou Bensouda, former ICC prosecutor, and Surahata Janneh, former doyen of the Gambian Bar.
Jallow clarified that Hackett “emerged the second best” of the 13 applicants, and since the top ranked candidate declined the offer due to family commitments, after the recruitment process, Hackett got the job.
Budget
Jallow said government has budgeted approximately $2.5 million annually to maintain the Office of the Special Prosecutor.
“To ensure transparency and avoid political interference, the prosecutor is obligated to put in place a communication strategy and interface regularly with press and public. Annual reports to the National Assembly and the president are also mandated by law. The process is going to be very transparent,” Jallow concluded.
Source: The Standard
