An Amnesty International press release has called for the dropping of treason charges against five democracy activists, whom AI characterizes as prisoners of conscience. According to the Gambian penal code, treason carries a death sentence. One of the five was tried in abstentia and is not in prison, and the other activists include the head of the former journalists' association and a former minister of information and communication. The case is at the prosecution stage; none have yet been convicted.
Gambia has a history of extrajudicial executions, but it is a de facto abolitionist state and has only carried out a judicial execution once (1981, for murder committed during a coup attempt, so technically not treason). Because the new Gambian constitution forbids the death penalty for any crime other than aggravated or premeditated murder (Art 18.2), it is not clear that the death penalty for treason is constitutionally operable. I am not sure that any Gambian defendant has raised a constitutional defense, or even if Amnesty is aware of it.
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