According to a statement from a government spokeswoman, the Gambian government on Tuesday prosecuted two civilians and a police officer in relation to an alleged coup plot.
On Friday, The Gambia Police Force sub-inspector Fakebba Jawara, Mustapha Jabbi, and Saikuba Jabbi were all detained and charged with treason and conspiracy to commit a felony.
They were kept in detention at Mile 2 Prison in Banjul, the country’s capital. The government said last month that it had stopped a coup attempt and had taken certain military personnel into custody.
At least seven troops, including a captain and lieutenant, have been detained by authorities. Former minister of presidential affairs under former leader Yahya Jammeh and opposition lawmaker Momodou Sabally were both detained and ultimately freed.
The West African country established a “investigative commission” last week with 30 days to look into the purported coup.
On Thursday, in a first revelation of details of the coup attempt, national security adviser Abubakarr Suleiman Jeng said the plotters aimed to “arrest cabinet ministers and senior government officials to use them as hostages to prevent any foreign intervention.”
“They also had plans to retire all senior military officers from the rank of major and above and restructure (the army),” he told reporters in the capital, Banjul.
A horrific 22-year dictatorship led by the late president Jammeh left lasting scars on The Gambia, a country with a precarious democracy.