{"id":25211,"date":"2023-04-19T07:13:55","date_gmt":"2023-04-19T07:13:55","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/eswatini\/?p=25211"},"modified":"2023-04-19T08:13:49","modified_gmt":"2023-04-19T08:13:49","slug":"switzerland-indicts-former-gambian-minister-for-crimes-against-humanity","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/eswatini\/all-news\/switzerland-indicts-former-gambian-minister-for-crimes-against-humanity","title":{"rendered":"Switzerland indicts former Gambian minister for crimes against humanity"},"content":{"rendered":"

Africa-Press – Eswatini. <\/strong><\/span>Switzerland\u2019s attorney general has filed an indictment against Gambia\u2019s former interior minister for crimes against humanity committed under former authoritarian leader Yahya Jammeh, it said in a statement on Tuesday.<\/b><\/p>\n

Ousman Sonko is accused of having supported, participated in and failed to prevent \u201csystematic and generalised attacks\u201d as part of a repressive campaign by security forces against Jammeh\u2019s opponents, the Office of the Attorney General said.<\/p>\n

Sonko\u2019s lawyer was not immediately available for comment.<\/p>\n

Sonko was interior minister from 2006 to 2016 when he fled to Sweden and from there to Switzerland, where he applied for asylum.<\/p>\n

He was arrested by Swiss police in January 2017 after the Geneva-based legal group Trial International filed a complaint under the principle of universal jurisdiction that allows the prosecution of the most serious crimes irrespective of where they were committed.<\/p>\n

Sonko has been held in Switzerland ever since.<\/p>\n

The case is set to be heard by Switzerland\u2019s Federal Criminal Court at an unspecified date. It will be the country\u2019s second-ever crimes against humanity trial.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe are very satisfied that this is going ahead,\u201d said Philip Grant, executive director of TRIAL International.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe hope this will generate momentum and that the trial will put pressure on Equatorial Guinea to eventually extradite Jammeh,\u201d he added. Gambia\u2019s former president fled there after a political crisis in 2017.<\/p>\n

Human rights activists in Gambia welcomed the indictment.<\/p>\n

Sheriff Mohammed Kijera from the Gambia Center for Victims of Human Rights Violations said the indictment set a precedent for the Gambian government to \u201ctake its responsibility to bring Yaya Jammeh and his henchmen to face justice.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cToday we rejoice that finally, justice has caught up with one of the key perpetrators against Gambians, whose victims continue to live in pain and misery,\u201d said Madi Jobarteh, a human rights activist.<\/p>\n

Gambia, a tiny West African country of 2.5 million, is still reeling from over two decades under former president Jammeh marked by authoritarianism and alleged abuses. Jammeh has denied allegations of wrongdoing.<\/p>\n

For More News And Analysis About Eswatini<\/a> Follow Africa-Press<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Africa-Press – Eswatini. Switzerland\u2019s attorney general has filed an indictment against Gambia\u2019s former interior minister for crimes against humanity committed under former authoritarian leader Yahya Jammeh, it said in a statement on Tuesday. Ousman Sonko is accused of having supported, participated in and failed to prevent \u201csystematic and generalised attacks\u201d as part of a repressive […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":84,"featured_media":25210,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2,7,12],"tags":[234,248,249],"class_list":["post-25211","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-all-news","category-head-lines","category-policy","tag-africa-press","tag-africa-press-eswatini","tag-eswatini"],"yoast_head":"\nSwitzerland indicts former Gambian minister for crimes against humanity - Eswatini<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Switzerland\u2019s attorney general has filed an indictment against Gambia\u2019s former interior minister for crimes against h ...\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/eswatini\/all-news\/switzerland-indicts-former-gambian-minister-for-crimes-against-humanity\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Switzerland indicts former Gambian minister for crimes against humanity\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Switzerland\u2019s attorney general has filed an indictment against Gambia\u2019s former interior minister for crimes against h ...\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/eswatini\/all-news\/switzerland-indicts-former-gambian-minister-for-crimes-against-humanity\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Eswatini\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/AfricaPressTunisiaa\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2023-04-19T07:13:55+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2023-04-19T08:13:49+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/eswatini\/sites\/33\/2023\/04\/postQueueImg_1681869266.49.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1280\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"720\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"cfeditoren\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"cfeditoren\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/eswatini\/all-news\/switzerland-indicts-former-gambian-minister-for-crimes-against-humanity#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/eswatini\/all-news\/switzerland-indicts-former-gambian-minister-for-crimes-against-humanity\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"cfeditoren\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/eswatini\/#\/schema\/person\/068c7ab4e9634ae78ec5d54ec46598bb\"},\"headline\":\"Switzerland indicts former Gambian minister for crimes against humanity\",\"datePublished\":\"2023-04-19T07:13:55+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2023-04-19T08:13:49+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/eswatini\/all-news\/switzerland-indicts-former-gambian-minister-for-crimes-against-humanity\"},\"wordCount\":354,\"commentCount\":0,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/eswatini\/all-news\/switzerland-indicts-former-gambian-minister-for-crimes-against-humanity#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/eswatini\/sites\/33\/2023\/04\/postQueueImg_1681869266.49.jpg\",\"keywords\":[\"Africa Press\",\"Africa Press-Eswatini\",\"Eswatini\"],\"articleSection\":[\"all news\",\"head lines\",\"policy\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/eswatini\/all-news\/switzerland-indicts-former-gambian-minister-for-crimes-against-humanity#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/eswatini\/all-news\/switzerland-indicts-former-gambian-minister-for-crimes-against-humanity\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/eswatini\/all-news\/switzerland-indicts-former-gambian-minister-for-crimes-against-humanity\",\"name\":\"Switzerland indicts former Gambian minister for crimes against humanity - Eswatini\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/eswatini\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/eswatini\/all-news\/switzerland-indicts-former-gambian-minister-for-crimes-against-humanity#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/eswatini\/all-news\/switzerland-indicts-former-gambian-minister-for-crimes-against-humanity#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/eswatini\/sites\/33\/2023\/04\/postQueueImg_1681869266.49.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2023-04-19T07:13:55+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2023-04-19T08:13:49+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/eswatini\/#\/schema\/person\/068c7ab4e9634ae78ec5d54ec46598bb\"},\"description\":\"Switzerland\u2019s attorney general has filed an indictment against Gambia\u2019s former interior minister for crimes against h ...\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/eswatini\/all-news\/switzerland-indicts-former-gambian-minister-for-crimes-against-humanity#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/eswatini\/all-news\/switzerland-indicts-former-gambian-minister-for-crimes-against-humanity\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/eswatini\/all-news\/switzerland-indicts-former-gambian-minister-for-crimes-against-humanity#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/eswatini\/sites\/33\/2023\/04\/postQueueImg_1681869266.49.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/eswatini\/sites\/33\/2023\/04\/postQueueImg_1681869266.49.jpg\",\"width\":1280,\"height\":720,\"caption\":\"Switzerland indicts former Gambian minister for crimes against humanity\"},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/eswatini\/all-news\/switzerland-indicts-former-gambian-minister-for-crimes-against-humanity#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/eswatini\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Switzerland indicts former Gambian minister for crimes against humanity\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/eswatini\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/eswatini\/\",\"name\":\"Eswatini\",\"description\":\"Just another Africa News Agency Sites site\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/eswatini\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/eswatini\/#\/schema\/person\/068c7ab4e9634ae78ec5d54ec46598bb\",\"name\":\"cfeditoren\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/eswatini\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/7417380fa9e23b5c57fdbfdaf3fdf92ee478f759a084addda5faa3732853e74a?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/7417380fa9e23b5c57fdbfdaf3fdf92ee478f759a084addda5faa3732853e74a?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"cfeditoren\"}}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO Premium plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Switzerland indicts former Gambian minister for crimes against humanity - Eswatini","description":"Switzerland\u2019s attorney general has filed an indictment against Gambia\u2019s former interior minister for crimes against h ...","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/eswatini\/all-news\/switzerland-indicts-former-gambian-minister-for-crimes-against-humanity","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Switzerland indicts former Gambian minister for crimes against humanity","og_description":"Switzerland\u2019s attorney general has filed an indictment against Gambia\u2019s former interior minister for crimes against h ...","og_url":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/eswatini\/all-news\/switzerland-indicts-former-gambian-minister-for-crimes-against-humanity","og_site_name":"Eswatini","article_publisher":"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/AfricaPressTunisiaa","article_published_time":"2023-04-19T07:13:55+00:00","article_modified_time":"2023-04-19T08:13:49+00:00","og_image":[{"width":1280,"height":720,"url":"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/eswatini\/sites\/33\/2023\/04\/postQueueImg_1681869266.49.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"cfeditoren","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"cfeditoren","Est. reading time":"2 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/eswatini\/all-news\/switzerland-indicts-former-gambian-minister-for-crimes-against-humanity#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/eswatini\/all-news\/switzerland-indicts-former-gambian-minister-for-crimes-against-humanity"},"author":{"name":"cfeditoren","@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/eswatini\/#\/schema\/person\/068c7ab4e9634ae78ec5d54ec46598bb"},"headline":"Switzerland indicts former Gambian minister for crimes against humanity","datePublished":"2023-04-19T07:13:55+00:00","dateModified":"2023-04-19T08:13:49+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/eswatini\/all-news\/switzerland-indicts-former-gambian-minister-for-crimes-against-humanity"},"wordCount":354,"commentCount":0,"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/eswatini\/all-news\/switzerland-indicts-former-gambian-minister-for-crimes-against-humanity#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/eswatini\/sites\/33\/2023\/04\/postQueueImg_1681869266.49.jpg","keywords":["Africa Press","Africa Press-Eswatini","Eswatini"],"articleSection":["all news","head lines","policy"],"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"CommentAction","name":"Comment","target":["https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/eswatini\/all-news\/switzerland-indicts-former-gambian-minister-for-crimes-against-humanity#respond"]}]},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/eswatini\/all-news\/switzerland-indicts-former-gambian-minister-for-crimes-against-humanity","url":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/eswatini\/all-news\/switzerland-indicts-former-gambian-minister-for-crimes-against-humanity","name":"Switzerland indicts former Gambian minister for crimes against humanity - Eswatini","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/eswatini\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/eswatini\/all-news\/switzerland-indicts-former-gambian-minister-for-crimes-against-humanity#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/eswatini\/all-news\/switzerland-indicts-former-gambian-minister-for-crimes-against-humanity#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/eswatini\/sites\/33\/2023\/04\/postQueueImg_1681869266.49.jpg","datePublished":"2023-04-19T07:13:55+00:00","dateModified":"2023-04-19T08:13:49+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/eswatini\/#\/schema\/person\/068c7ab4e9634ae78ec5d54ec46598bb"},"description":"Switzerland\u2019s attorney general has filed an indictment against Gambia\u2019s former interior minister for crimes against h ...","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/eswatini\/all-news\/switzerland-indicts-former-gambian-minister-for-crimes-against-humanity#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/eswatini\/all-news\/switzerland-indicts-former-gambian-minister-for-crimes-against-humanity"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/eswatini\/all-news\/switzerland-indicts-former-gambian-minister-for-crimes-against-humanity#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/eswatini\/sites\/33\/2023\/04\/postQueueImg_1681869266.49.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/eswatini\/sites\/33\/2023\/04\/postQueueImg_1681869266.49.jpg","width":1280,"height":720,"caption":"Switzerland indicts former Gambian minister for crimes against humanity"},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/eswatini\/all-news\/switzerland-indicts-former-gambian-minister-for-crimes-against-humanity#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/eswatini\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Switzerland indicts former Gambian minister for crimes against humanity"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/eswatini\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/eswatini\/","name":"Eswatini","description":"Just another Africa News Agency Sites site","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/eswatini\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/eswatini\/#\/schema\/person\/068c7ab4e9634ae78ec5d54ec46598bb","name":"cfeditoren","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/eswatini\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/7417380fa9e23b5c57fdbfdaf3fdf92ee478f759a084addda5faa3732853e74a?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/7417380fa9e23b5c57fdbfdaf3fdf92ee478f759a084addda5faa3732853e74a?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"cfeditoren"}}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/eswatini\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/25211","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/eswatini\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/eswatini\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/eswatini\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/84"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/eswatini\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=25211"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/eswatini\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/25211\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/eswatini\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/25210"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/eswatini\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=25211"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/eswatini\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=25211"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/eswatini\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=25211"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}