{"id":58434,"date":"2024-05-18T16:44:36","date_gmt":"2024-05-18T16:44:36","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/gambia\/uncategorized\/ousman-sonko-jailed-20-years-by-swiss-court-for-crimes-against-humanity"},"modified":"2024-05-18T17:26:52","modified_gmt":"2024-05-18T17:26:52","slug":"ousman-sonko-jailed-20-years-by-swiss-court-for-crimes-against-humanity","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/gambia\/all-news\/ousman-sonko-jailed-20-years-by-swiss-court-for-crimes-against-humanity","title":{"rendered":"Ousman Sonko jailed 20 years By Swiss Court For Crimes Against Humanity"},"content":{"rendered":"

Africa-Press – Gambia. <\/strong><\/span>Ousman Sonko, former interior minister of Gambia, was convicted by Switzerland\u2019s top criminal court on Wednesday for crimes against humanity over his role in repression committed by the West African country\u2019s security forces under its longtime ex-President YahyaJammeh, now in exile in Equatorial Guinea.<\/b><\/p>\n

Sonko, Interior minister from 2006 to 2016, was sentenced to 20 years in prison, by the Criminal Chamber of the Federal Criminal Court in Bellinzona, Switzerland, TRIAL International, an NGO fighting impunity for international crimes and supporting victims in their quest for justice, reported.<\/p>\n

The trial began in January and was seen by advocacy groups as an opportunity to reach a conviction under \u201cuniversal jurisdiction\u201d, which allows for the prosecution of serious crimes committed abroad.<\/p>\n

Sonko, who was in the courtroom, offered little reaction when a translation of the verdict was rout in English, said TRIAL International\u2019s legal adviser Benoit Meystre, who also attended the proceedings.<\/p>\n

Sonko applied for asylum in Switzerland in November 2016 and was arrested two months later.<\/p>\n

The Swiss attorney general\u2019s office said the indictment against Sonko, filed a year ago, covered alleged crimes during 16 years under Jammeh, whose rule was marked by arbitrary detention, sexual abuse, and extrajudicial killings.<\/p>\n

Sonko was accused of supporting, participating in, and failing to stop attacks against opponents in Gambia. The crimes included killings, torture, rape, and numerous unlawful detentions, prosecutors said.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis unprecedented conviction based on universal jurisdiction in Europe is the confirmation that no one is above the reach of justice,\u201d Meystre said in a text message. \u201cEven the most powerful figures can be brought to account for their participation in mass atrocities.\u201d<\/p>\n

Madi M. K. Ceesay, an award-winning journalist once arrested under Sonko\u2019s orders and who testified in the trial, said the verdict would likely send a strong signal to Jammeh, who remains in exile in Equatorial Guinea.<\/p>\n

Sonko was convicted of homicide, torture, and false imprisonment as crimes against humanity, while rape charges against him were dropped.<\/p>\n

Philip Grant, executive director at TRIAL International, which filed the Swiss case against Sonko before his arrest, said he was the highest-level former official ever to be put on trial in Europe under the principle of universal jurisdiction.<\/p>\n

Sonko, who joined the Gambian military in 1988, was appointed commander of the State Guard in 2003, a position in which he was responsible for Jammeh\u2019ssecurity. He was made Inspector General of the Gambian police in 2005.<\/p>\n

He was removed as Interior minister in September 2016, a few months before the end of Jammeh\u2019s government, and left Gambia to seek asylum in Europe.<\/p>\n

Jammeh seized power in a 1994 coup. He lost Gambia\u2019s 2016 presidential election but refused to concede defeat to Adama Barrow, and ultimately fled amid threats of a regional military intervention to force him from power.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe verdict against Ousman Sonko is a milestone in the fight against impunity and a historic success for universal jurisdiction in Switzerland and Europe,\u201d Amnesty Switzerland wrote on X. \u201cEven former ministers can be prosecuted! Victims and their families finally see justice.\u201d<\/p>\n

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

Africa-Press – Gambia. Ousman Sonko, former interior minister of Gambia, was convicted by Switzerland\u2019s top criminal court on Wednesday for crimes against humanity over his role in repression committed by the West African country\u2019s security forces under its longtime ex-President YahyaJammeh, now in exile in Equatorial Guinea. Sonko, Interior minister from 2006 to 2016, was […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":84,"featured_media":58433,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2,12],"tags":[2355,2361,260],"class_list":["post-58434","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":"\nOusman Sonko jailed 20 years By Swiss Court For Crimes Against Humanity - Gambia<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Ousman Sonko, former interior minister of Gambia, was convicted by Switzerland\u2019s top criminal court on Wednesday for ...\" \/>\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\/ousman-sonko-jailed-20-years-by-swiss-court-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=\"Ousman Sonko jailed 20 years By Swiss Court For Crimes Against Humanity\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Ousman Sonko, former interior minister of Gambia, was convicted by Switzerland\u2019s top criminal court on Wednesday for ...\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/gambia\/all-news\/ousman-sonko-jailed-20-years-by-swiss-court-for-crimes-against-humanity\" \/>\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=\"2024-05-18T16:44:36+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2024-05-18T17:26:52+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/gambia\/sites\/19\/2024\/05\/sm_1716040467.440272.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=\"3 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\/ousman-sonko-jailed-20-years-by-swiss-court-for-crimes-against-humanity#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/gambia\/all-news\/ousman-sonko-jailed-20-years-by-swiss-court-for-crimes-against-humanity\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"cfeditoren\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/gambia\/#\/schema\/person\/068c7ab4e9634ae78ec5d54ec46598bb\"},\"headline\":\"Ousman Sonko jailed 20 years By Swiss Court For Crimes Against Humanity\",\"datePublished\":\"2024-05-18T16:44:36+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2024-05-18T17:26:52+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/gambia\/all-news\/ousman-sonko-jailed-20-years-by-swiss-court-for-crimes-against-humanity\"},\"wordCount\":525,\"commentCount\":0,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/gambia\/all-news\/ousman-sonko-jailed-20-years-by-swiss-court-for-crimes-against-humanity#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/gambia\/sites\/19\/2024\/05\/sm_1716040467.440272.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\/ousman-sonko-jailed-20-years-by-swiss-court-for-crimes-against-humanity#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/gambia\/all-news\/ousman-sonko-jailed-20-years-by-swiss-court-for-crimes-against-humanity\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/gambia\/all-news\/ousman-sonko-jailed-20-years-by-swiss-court-for-crimes-against-humanity\",\"name\":\"Ousman Sonko jailed 20 years By Swiss Court For Crimes Against Humanity - 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