Gambia's President Yahya Jammeh has issued a last-minute reprieve for a Senegalese man on death row, Senegalese media reported on Monday according to dpa. According to the newspaper Liberation, Salioun Niang was awaiting execution in Banjul, following Jammeh's announcement last month that all prisoners on death row would be executed by the end of September. However, according to reports, on Saturday Niang was called from his cell, expecting the death sentence. Instead, he was ushered into a room and met by Senegal's justice minister Aminata Toure. A reprieve was issued on the spot. Senegal's President Macky Sall, who came to power in April, has spoken out loudly against his neighbor's use of capital punishment, as have rights groups including Amnesty International. Last week Jammeh said the move was designed to deter potential criminals in the tiny Anglophone country. Nine prisoners have already been executed by firing squad in Gambia, including two Senegalese, and dozens more are waiting to die on death row - which until this month had not been operational since 1985.
