A group of protestors from Gambia “took over” the Gambian embassy in Washington, D.C. on Wednesday before being arrested.
The group was protesting the rule of Yahya Jammeh, referring to it as a “regime.”
According to the Coalition for Change, which seeks to end “the dictatorship in The Gambia,” embassies in other parts of the world will be targeted as well.
Jammeh originally took power in a military coup in July 1994, and was elected president two years later. he’s been re-elected three times.
He recently made news by withdrawing Gambia from the Commonwealth conference.
The Daily Telegraph asserts that Jammeh’s rule has been far from pleasant.
“Since seizing power as a 29-year-old lieutenant in 1994, Mr Jammeh’s rule has been marked by his increasingly eccentric conduct and a ruthless determination to suppress any hint of political dissent,” according to the U.K. news agency. “In a country where the average tenure of the interior minister amounts to no more than a few months, and the infamous ‘Mile 2 Hotel’ prison on the outskirts of Banjul, the capital, is filled with political prisoners crowded into mosquito-filled cells, Mr Jammeh has established himself as one of the region’s most enduring despots.”
His eccentric tastes include a penchant for witchcraft, and execution.
Gambia: The Gambia embassy in Washington occupied by Gambian protesters. pic.twitter.com/vzageM5egr
— The Gambia Voice (@TheGambiaVoice) October 9, 2013
