Mohammed Jabbateh
Facts
| Faction | ULIMO |
| Nationality | Liberian |
| Period of Activity | First Liberian Civil War |
| Indictment | Immigration Fraud |
| Status | In Prison |
Resources
Our Videos on the Jungle Jabbah Trial
Videos were created in collaboration with Nicolas Braguinsky Cascini.
Trial Monitoring
Civitas Maxima followed the trial and produced a daily trial monitoring. You can find it here.
Important Documents
Indictment
Sentencing
Appeal
Press Releases
- September 8, 2020 – Jungle Jabbah: Maximum Sentence Confirmed
- April, 19, 2018 – Liberian Warlord “Jungle Jabbah” Sentenced to 30 Years in Prison in Milestone for Global Justice
- January 30, 2018 – Warlord Jungle Jabbah’s sentencing and further trials for alleged Liberian war criminals set for 2018
- October 18, 2017 – US Court finds Liberian Rebel Commander “Jungle Jabbah” Guilty of Crimes Linked to Atrocities in Liberia’s First Civil War
- September 26, 2017 – Trial of Pennsylvania Resident and Alleged Liberian War Criminal Jabbateh “Jungle Jabbah” Set to Begin in Philadelphia October 2, 2017
External Links
- The Philadelphia Inquirer (2020) – Appeals court upholds 30-year prison stint for Delco warlord ‘Jungle Jabbah’ who lied about Liberian war atrocities
- BBC (2018) – Liberia warlord ‘Jungle Jabbah’ jailed for 30 years in the US
- The Philadelphia Inquirer (2018) – ‘Jungle Jabbah,’ ex-warlord living in Delco, sentenced to 30 years
- Washington Post (2018) – ‘Jungle Jabbah’ was accused of cannibalism and other horrors in Liberia. How a U.S. court brought him to justice.
In April 2016, Mohammed Jabbateh, aka Jungle Jabbah, was arrested in Pennsylvania, USA. On October 2, 2017, the U.S. Government’s immigration fraud case against the Liberian citizen, Pennsylvania resident, and alleged war criminal began in Philadelphia. Jabbateh was charged with two counts of fraud in immigration documents and two counts of perjury for having lied to authorities about his war time activities. He was a ULIMO commander, then later ULIMO-K post-faction split, during the First Liberian Civil War and responsible for commanding atrocious wartime crimes including murder, conscription of child soldiers, and cannibalism.
A jury convicted Jabbateh on October 18, 2017. On April 19, 2018, Jabbateh was sentenced to 30 years in prison, the maximum possible sentence for his charges. This sentence is also one of the longest sentences for immigration fraud in U.S. history.
Civitas Maxima and the Global Justice and Research Project collaborated with the U.S. authorities on the investigation since 2014.
This trial was the first ever trial against a ULIMO commander and the first time that victims testified in a criminal trial about crimes committed during the First Liberian Civil War.
On September 8, 2020, the United States Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit in Philadelphia rejected Mohammed Jabbateh’s appeal, upholding his conviction and 30-year prison sentence.
The Appeal Court’s decision describes Jabbateh’s actions as being carried out “with bone-chilling cruelty”, and stated that: “The horrors recounted at trial, retold only in part here, are indescribably tragic”, “None, including the jury that weighed impartially the mountain of evidence marshalled against Jabbateh, would view his conduct as anything less than monstrous”.
