The Federal Prosecutor and the co-plaintiffs in the 59th and 60th sessions of the trial of Bai Lowe over the assassination of The Point’s Co-publisher and Managing Editor Deyda Hydara filed their closing arguments on 16 and 17 November this year.

The Federal Prosecutor requested for the accused to be found guilty of the killing of Deyda Hydara and Nyassi and for the attempted killing of Ousman Sillah (as well as Njangsarang Jobe and Ida Jagne, the two women in Hydara’s car who survived the shooting) as crimes against humanity committed by Yahya Jammeh and his government against the Gambian people.

The prosecutors summarised all evidence heard in trial which proved that all crimes had been ordered and orchestrated by Yahya Jammeh and executed by his killing-squad, the Junglers, with the help of the accused who served as their driver. They also argued that these and many other crimes committed by the Jammeh dictatorship were part of a widespread and systematic attack of the regime on the Gambian civilian population and therefore constitute crimes against humanity. The crimes are also punishable as murder and attempted murder under German criminal law.

On Day 60 of this trial, the co-plaintiffs took the stage, starting with lawyer Peer Stolle for the former employee of The Point newspaper, Isatou Jagne, who reiterated some of the findings of the Federal Prosecutor concerning the killing of Deyda Hydara. Patrick Kroker, lawyer for Deyda Hydara’s son as well as for Omar and Modou Nyassi, the sons of Dawda Nyassi, spoke about the statements that the accused had made throughout the trial and why these should be dismissed.

He also spoke about the role of Deyda Hydara as an icon of the free press in The Gambia and about the effects of the killings of Hydara and Nyassi on the victims’ families.

Omar Nyassi briefly addressed the court and spoke about his family’s suffering. Baba Hydara also addressed the court, thanked the German court system for the justice and efforts expended in the case, and mentioned that “all victims of the Jammeh regime deserve their day in court”. He appealed to the international community and the Gambian government to follow the laudable examples of the German court and step up their efforts to bring all perpetrators to justice.