Gambian ex-minister faces crimes against humanity charges in landmark Swiss trial
A former Gambian minister is on trial in Switzerland in a long-awaited case, accused of crimes against humanity for his alleged role in years of repression by the west African country’s security forces against opponents of its long-time dictator.
The trial against former Gambian Interior Minister Ousman Sonko opened on Monday morning at the Federal Criminal Court in Bellinzona. The 54-year-old is accused of a list of charges including murder, repeated rape, repeated torture and aggravated confinement.
The charges are divided into five parts, extending from January 2000 to September 2016, when Sonko was dismissed from his post as interior minister.
+ Former Gambian minister charged with crimes against humanity
The Office of the Attorney General of Switzerland (OAG) accuses him of committing most of these acts in complicity with Yahya Jammeh, then president of Gambia, and with senior members of the security forces and prison services.
Ousman Sonko rose through the ranks during the 16-year period in question, becoming commander of the National Guard in 2003, Inspector General of Police in 2005, and Interior Minister a year later.
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Before his arrest in Switzerland in January 2017, Sonko was living in an asylum centre in Kappelen-Lyss, canton Bern. He had applied for asylum in November 2016.
In April 2023, the OAG filed an indictment against Sonko for crimes against humanity. The Bellinzona court will have to decide whether the acts were committed as part of a widespread and systematic attack against the civilian population and should therefore be classified as crimes against humanity.
+ Five years on, the slow wheels of Swiss justice in Gambian case
In all, eleven victims – or their survivors – have joined the civil legal case in Switzerland. Sonko has been detained in Switzerland since his arrest in 2017. A Swiss court has confirmed that he is a flight risk. The trial will last until the end of January.
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