Liberian war crimes appeal trial opens in Switzerland

Around 300,000 people were killed, and hundreds of thousands forced from their homes, in conflicts that raged in Liberia between 1989-1996 and 1999-2003. Keystone / Nic Bothma

A Liberian man convicted of 22 counts of war crimes including rape, murder and an act of cannibalism is seeking to overturn the judgment at an appeal trial that opened in Switzerland on Wednesday.

Alieu Kosiah, 47, a former rebel commander who fought with the United Liberation Movement of Liberia for Democracy (ULIMO) group against former President Charles Taylor’s army between 1993-1995, was sentenced to 20 years in prison in June 2021 in Switzerland’s first ever war crimes trial.

The indictment has since been widened to include crimes against humanity – the first time such charges have been brought in a Swiss trial.

Swiss prosecutors opened a case against Kosiah in August 2014 following complaints filed by seven victims. A 2011 Swiss law allows prosecution for serious crimes committed anywhere, under the principle of universal jurisdiction. He was arrested in Bern in November 2014, where he had been living as a permanent resident, and has been detained since then.

Kosiah’s defence has denied the charges and previously argued that he was a minor when first recruited in the conflict and was not present when the crimes were committed.

The appeal trial at the Federal Criminal Court in Bellinzona in southern Switzerland is set to last until February 3 and a final judgment is due later this year.

Around 300,000 people were killed, and hundreds of thousands forced from their homes, in conflicts that raged in Liberia between 1989-1996 and 1999-2003.