A Swiss court has sentenced a former Gambian minister to 20 years in prison for crimes against humanity, according to BBC report published yesterday 15th May.
Ousman Sonko fled to Switzerland in 2016, shortly before Gambian President Yahya Jammeh was forced out of power after refusing to admit he had lost elections. His government was accused of numerous rights abuses.
Sonko is the highest-ranking government official ever to be prosecuted under this principle in Europe.
Philip Grant, head of the organisation that filed the complaint leading to Sonkoโs arrest, said the case sends a โresounding message against impunityโ.
โMinister-level perpetrators are now within reach of justice,โ the Trial International director added.
Swiss investigators travelled to The Gambia and interviewed dozens of alleged victims and witnesses for the trial, which began in January this year.
Switzerland tried the case under the principle of universal jurisdiction, which allows countries to prosecute people for crimes that took place elsewhere.
Sonko is the highest-ranking government official ever to be prosecuted under this principle in Europe.
Philip Grant, head of the organisation that filed the complaint leading to Sonkoโs arrest, said the case sends a โresounding message against impunityโ.
โMinister-level perpetrators are now within reach of justice,โ the Trial International director added.
Swiss investigators travelled to The Gambia and interviewed dozens of alleged victims and witnesses for the trial, which began in January this year.
Under Mr Jammeh, who was in power from 1996 until 2016, The Gambia was characterised by โwidespread abuses, including forced disappearances, and extrajudicial killingsโ, according to Human Rights Watch
Sonko was seen as Mr Jammehโs right-hand man, his role as interior minister putting him in charge of the security services, including, allegedly, a sinister paramilitary group known as โthe Junglersโ.
But in 2016, shortly before Mr Jammeh lost power, Sonko fled to Switzerland, where he claimed asylum.
In January 2017, he was arrested by authorities there.
Along with Switzerland, other countries are bringing cases against former members of Mr Jammehโs regime.
In October, Germany handed a life sentence for crimes against humanity to Bai Lowe, a one-time member of โthe Junglersโ.
And in September this year, a court in the US state of Colorado will try an alleged former member of the same group.
Although The Gambia has created its own transitional justice process to address abuses committed under Mr Jammehโs rule, human rights groups say its work has so far been very slow.
