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| Nine Gambia prisoners executed amid rights group outcry | Nine Gambia prisoners executed amid rights group outcry |
| (about 9 hours later) | |
| Nine prisoners have been executed in The Gambia, despite international alarm at an apparent official policy to carry out all death penalties by next month. | |
| The prisoners were shot dead by firing squad on Sunday, the interior ministry said. | |
| President Yahya Jammeh had vowed to kill all 47 death-row inmates by mid-September. | President Yahya Jammeh had vowed to kill all 47 death-row inmates by mid-September. |
| Rights groups and the international community have expressed alarm, calling on Mr Jammeh to halt the executions. | Rights groups and the international community have expressed alarm, calling on Mr Jammeh to halt the executions. |
| Amnesty International attacked the policy last week when it reported that the executions had been carried out three days earlier. | Amnesty International attacked the policy last week when it reported that the executions had been carried out three days earlier. |
| Many of The Gambia's death row inmates are former officials and top military officers who have been detained for treason since 1994, when Mr Jammeh took power in a coup. | |
| The European Union's foreign policy chief, Catherine Ashton, urged The Gambia to stop the executions immediately. | |
| Eid address | Eid address |
| One woman was among those executed, the Interior Ministry said, listing crimes such as murder, treason, arson, drug and human trafficking as being punishable by death. | One woman was among those executed, the Interior Ministry said, listing crimes such as murder, treason, arson, drug and human trafficking as being punishable by death. |
| It was not clear what crimes each of the nine prisoners were executed for. | It was not clear what crimes each of the nine prisoners were executed for. |
| The death penalty was abolished when former President Dawda Jawara led the country but reinstated in 1995 shortly after Mr Jammeh seized power. | The death penalty was abolished when former President Dawda Jawara led the country but reinstated in 1995 shortly after Mr Jammeh seized power. |
| "By the middle of next month, all the death sentences would have been carried out to the letter; there is no way my government will allow 99% of the population to be held to ransom by criminals," President Jammeh said in a speech, which was broadcast on national television on 19 August, marking the Muslim festival of Eid. | "By the middle of next month, all the death sentences would have been carried out to the letter; there is no way my government will allow 99% of the population to be held to ransom by criminals," President Jammeh said in a speech, which was broadcast on national television on 19 August, marking the Muslim festival of Eid. |
| In response, Benin's President Thomas Boni Yayi, who currently holds the chair of the African Union, sent his foreign minister to The Gambia to warn Mr Jammeh not to carry out any executions. |