{"id":50992,"date":"2024-01-10T18:11:44","date_gmt":"2024-01-10T18:11:44","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/gambia\/?p=50992"},"modified":"2024-01-10T16:51:12","modified_gmt":"2024-01-10T16:51:12","slug":"victim-madi-ceesay-welcomes-sonkos-swiss-trial","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/gambia\/all-news\/victim-madi-ceesay-welcomes-sonkos-swiss-trial","title":{"rendered":"Victim Madi Ceesay welcomes Sonko\u2019s Swiss trial"},"content":{"rendered":"

Africa-Press – Gambia. <\/strong><\/span>Serrekunda West lawmaker, Madi Ceesay, who is a victim of torture during the former regime, has welcomed the landmark trial against former Interior Minister Ousman Sonko in Switzerland as \u2018relief\u2019 after a long wait for justice over mass atrocities committed under the Jammeh dictatorship.<\/b><\/p>\n

Sonko, a former State Guards Commander, Inspector General of Police and Minister of Interior until 2016, appeared before a court in Switzerland Monday, accused of crimes against humanity over a litany of violations including killings, acts of sexual violence, torture and depriviation of liberties. He is the highest-ranking official to answer for atrocities committed during Jammeh\u2019s 22 years rule.<\/p>\n

\u201cI feel a big relief because I have been with this pain and anger for quite a long time. And now that one of the perpetrators is brought to book, I have no doubt that justice will prevail and that comforts me a lot,\u201d Ceesay, who travelled to Switzerland to testify against Sonko, told. Under Sonko\u2019s reign, Ceesay was arrested and tortured by state agents when he was a media practitioner in the 2000s.<\/p>\n

Among the witnesses to testify against Sonko include a rape survivor whose husband was killed in a plot he was allegedly involved.<\/p>\n

Ceesay said the trial reinforces the hopes of many other victims in the Gambia that the \u201clong arms of justice\u201d will reach all perpetrators involved in human rights violations.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis is a signal to perpetrators and would-be perpetrators that there is no place to hide after committing such crimes against humanity. Justice has its long arms. It has its eagle eyes.\u201d<\/p>\n

He argued that the Sonko trial is a \u201cshame for the Barrow government\u201d that it is failing in its responsibilities to serve justice to victims of the former regime.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis is a process they are supposed to lead and now a state like Switzerland was able to trap Sonko and indict him. It is a shame back home. They need to take up their responsibilities and ensure that the remaining perpetrators in the Gambia are brought to justice as soon as possible for the betterment of the country and for the government,\u201d Ceesay stated.<\/p>\n

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

Africa-Press – Gambia. Serrekunda West lawmaker, Madi Ceesay, who is a victim of torture during the former regime, has welcomed the landmark trial against former Interior Minister Ousman Sonko in Switzerland as \u2018relief\u2019 after a long wait for justice over mass atrocities committed under the Jammeh dictatorship. Sonko, a former State Guards Commander, Inspector General […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":84,"featured_media":50991,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2,12],"tags":[2355,2361,260],"class_list":["post-50992","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-all-news","category-policy","tag-africa-press","tag-africa-press-gambia","tag-gambia"],"yoast_head":"\nVictim Madi Ceesay welcomes Sonko\u2019s Swiss trial - Gambia<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Serrekunda West lawmaker, Madi Ceesay, who is a victim of torture during the former regime, has welcomed the landmark ...\" \/>\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\/gambia\/all-news\/victim-madi-ceesay-welcomes-sonkos-swiss-trial\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Victim Madi Ceesay welcomes Sonko\u2019s Swiss trial\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Serrekunda West lawmaker, Madi Ceesay, who is a victim of torture during the former regime, has welcomed the landmark ...\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/gambia\/all-news\/victim-madi-ceesay-welcomes-sonkos-swiss-trial\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Gambia\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/AfricaPressTunisiaa\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2024-01-10T18:11:44+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/gambia\/sites\/19\/2024\/01\/sm_1704892550.397064.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"720\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"332\" \/>\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\/gambia\/all-news\/victim-madi-ceesay-welcomes-sonkos-swiss-trial#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/gambia\/all-news\/victim-madi-ceesay-welcomes-sonkos-swiss-trial\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"cfeditoren\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/gambia\/#\/schema\/person\/068c7ab4e9634ae78ec5d54ec46598bb\"},\"headline\":\"Victim Madi Ceesay welcomes Sonko\u2019s Swiss trial\",\"datePublished\":\"2024-01-10T18:11:44+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/gambia\/all-news\/victim-madi-ceesay-welcomes-sonkos-swiss-trial\"},\"wordCount\":374,\"commentCount\":0,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/gambia\/all-news\/victim-madi-ceesay-welcomes-sonkos-swiss-trial#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/gambia\/sites\/19\/2024\/01\/sm_1704892550.397064.jpg\",\"keywords\":[\"Africa Press\",\"Africa Press-Gambia\",\"Gambia\"],\"articleSection\":[\"all news\",\"policy\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/gambia\/all-news\/victim-madi-ceesay-welcomes-sonkos-swiss-trial#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/gambia\/all-news\/victim-madi-ceesay-welcomes-sonkos-swiss-trial\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/gambia\/all-news\/victim-madi-ceesay-welcomes-sonkos-swiss-trial\",\"name\":\"Victim Madi Ceesay welcomes Sonko\u2019s Swiss trial - 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