[1] A former Minister of Information and Communication for the national government, he was sentenced to life in prison for treason after distributing T-shirts with the slogan "End to Dictatorship Now".
He then taught for ten years at the University of Tennessee until 2000, before moving to Savannah, Georgia, where he established a business of exporting and importing goods to and from Senegal.
[4][5] Six months after Janneh's 2003 return to the Gambia to work as a political/economic assistant at the U.S. Embassy in Banjul, President Yahya Jammeh appointed him as Minister for Information, Communications and Technology in April 2004.
He together with other journalist in diaspora established the Coalition for Change–The Gambia (CGG) in April 2011, which aimed to bring together organisations involved in human rights activities to oppose Jammeh's government.
[8] On 18 January 2012, a Special Criminal Court found Janneh guilty of treason and conspiracy to commit a felony and gave him a life sentence.
[3] Amnesty International declared the four men prisoners of conscience and called for their immediate release, stating, "Gambia must stop such acts of persecution and allow criticism to be heard in the country.