A Maryland woman who was imprisoned in Gambia for months her alleged involvement in an anti-government protest has been granted bail.
Fanta Darboe Jawara, a naturalized U.S. citizen, was sentenced to three years in jail after her arrest on charges including unlawful assembly during a demonstration near the capital, Banjul.
Jawara's family says she was a bystander at the demonstration. They have maintained her innocence.
"They just haul anybody in sight. Threw them into trucks," Jawara's uncle, Momodou Darboe, said in July.
Jawara is due back in court Thursday. Her husband, Ebrima Jawara, said all charges could be dropped at that time.
Since her arrest, U.S. Sen. Ben Cardin and three other Maryland congressional members have demanded her release.
Both the State Department and Ebrima Jawara expressed concerns about her treatment in the prison where she's being held by the government of President Yahya Jammeh. Fanta's husband is a grandson of Jammeh's predecessor, Dawda Jawara, who was ousted in a 1994 military coup.
