Gambia sets up investigative panel to examine coup attempt

BANJUL, Gambia

The Gambia on Tuesday (Dec. 27) established an "investigative panel" following the arrest of alleged coup plotters. The panel will have 30 days to report back on last week’s coup attempt.

The 11-member inquiry group was sworn in and includes members from the justice ministry, the office of national security, military forces, the police, and intelligence agencies, a spokesman stated.

A captain and lieutenant are among military men who've been arrested. According to an official statement, they're “helping unearth allegations of plans to overthrow" President Adama Barrow's government.

Momodou Sabally, the minister of presidential affairs under former leader Yahya Jammeh, has been imprisonned. He appeared in a video in which he allegedly suggested president Barrow would be deposed prior to the upcoming municipal elections.

His party, the United Democratic Party, demanded his immediate release.

Since 2020, military takeovers in Mali, Guinea, and Burkina Faso have shaken West Africa.

Adama Barrow was elected to a second term in 2021.