Appeal trial of ex-Gambian minister Sonko opens in Switzerland
The appeal trial against former Gambian Interior Minister Ousman Sonko began on Monday before the Federal Criminal Court in Bellinzona. The 57-year-old was sentenced in May 2024 to a 20-year prison term for crimes against humanity.
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Sonko tried until the last moment to intervene in the course of his trial. In fact, he filed a request for recusal against the panel of three judges in charge of the appeal proceedings. This request, according to which there is a hierarchical relationship between the first and second instance judges, was rejected on Friday by the Federal Court.
The trial is scheduled to take place until April 17, but reserve dates are already planned, if necessary.
In the first instance, the judges in Bellinzona had found that the facts alleged against the former Gambian interior minister – repeated deliberate murders, repeated kidnappings and repeated torture – were part of a context of systematic attacks against the Gambian civilian population and indeed constituted crimes against humanity.
+ Swiss court convicts Gambian ex-minister for crimes against humanity
The Federal Criminal Court had found that, as part of his duties as interior minister of the regime, Sonko had been part of a coordinated system that permanently silenced opponents and journalists and intimidated the population.
Still in prison
While the charge of crimes against humanity was maintained, the judges in Bellinzona dropped the charges of rape. The Office of the Attorney General of Switzerland had accused Sonko of raping the wife of a former soldier between 2000 and 2002, as well as in January 2005.
A decision was also issued to expel him from Swiss territory for 12 years. Both the Office of the Attorney General of Switzerland, which had also requested a life sentence, and the former minister had appealed against the first instance verdict.
Since the verdict, Sonko has remained in prison awaiting the appeal process, the judges having rejected his requests for release on the grounds of flight risk. Sonko has been behind bars since his arrest in early 2017 at an asylum-seekers’ centre in Bern.
+ Why Gambian ex-minister is on trial in Switzerland for crimes against humanity
After being dismissed in September 2016 by the then president, Yahya Jammeh, Sonko fled to Switzerland, where he applied for asylum. Until his arrest, he was living undisturbed in this asylum-seeker centre, where he had been registered.
Adapted from Italian by AI/ts
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