A Swiss top criminal court on Wednesday convicted a former government minister from Gambia of crimes against humanity under former dictator Yahya Jammeh and jailed him for 20 years.
The Federal Criminal Court found Ousman Sonko, Gambia’s interior minister from 2006 to 2016 under then-President Yahya Jammeh, guilty on several counts of intentional homicide, torture and false imprisonment.
Sonko, who was dismissed as Gambia’s interior minister in 2016, was acquitted of rape.
Sonko fell out with Jammeh in the final months of his 22-year repressive rule before the latter was forced to flee in January 2017 after an election defeat. That same month, Sonko was arrested in Switzerland while seeking asylum.
Sonko denied the charges and accused the plaintiffs of lying while denouncing his seven-year pre-trial detention – a period he said was partly spent in solitary confinement and affected his health.
The judgment can be appealed.
Ousman Sonko is not to be confused with leading politician Ousmane Sonko in Senegal, who spells his first name slightly differently.
Peoplesmind
