Reliable reports reaching LamToro News (LTN) have it that Mrs. Isatou Jagne, widely known as Ida Jagne, is scheduled to testify in the murder trial of Bai Lowe, a member of the former president Yahya Jammeh’s hit squad known as the Junglers.
Her testimony is scheduled for October 2022 in Germany, where Bai Lowe is facing trial for his alleged role in the killing of the veteran Gambian journalist Deyda Hydara on 16th December 2004 in Kanifing, The Gambia. Mr. Hydara is a co-founder and proprietor of The Point Newspaper.
Ida Jagne was a victim of the said incident as she was one of the ladies in the same car with Deyda Hydara on the night he was killed. She sustained injuries from the gunshots and was rushed to the Royal Victoria Teaching Hospital, now changed to Edward Francis Small Teaching Hospital, before being transferred to Dakar for medical treatment.
Confirming this news to LTN, Lawyer Malick H.B Jallow, counsel for Ida Jagne, said her client’s testimony will no doubt help in ensuring justice for the late Deyda Hydara.
Lawyer Jallow said: “Bai Lowe is charged under the principle of universal jurisdiction which essentially makes the world a very small place indeed for perpetrators of serious human rights violations. Ida Jagne is a direct victim of the Deyda Hydara incident and is therefore well placed to assist the courts in Germany in determining the truth and providing justice with respect to the charges against Bai Lowe.“
He expressed optimism that this trial gives hope to other victims and that the long arm of the law is always on course to provide redress no matter how long it takes, either through the domestic system or through the option of international justice.
Bai Lowe first appeared in a German court on April 25 this year facing charges of crimes against humanity. Lowe is also accused of murder and attempted murder as part of a group that assassinated opponents of former president Yahya Jammeh.