Gambian ex-minister Sonko on trial in Switzerland for crimes against humanity

The trial of Ousman Sonko, a Gambian ex-interior minister accused of crimes against humanity committed under the regime of a former dictator Yahya Jammeh from 2006 until 2016, began in a federal court in Switzerland on Monday (8 January).
Sonko is the highest-ranking official under Jammeh’s dictatorship, to be prosecuted for widespread rights abuses. Sonko denies all the charges, but if convicted, he could face a life imprisonment term. It is also a pivotal case for Switzerland in that Sonko’s trial takes place under the principle of universal jurisdiction, which allows a foreign country to prosecute crimes against humanity, war crimes and genocide regardless of where they were committed, as long as they are on Swiss soil. Sonko is only the second individual tried under that rule since Switzerland enforced it in 2011.
The case is being heard at the Federal Criminal Court of Switzerland where proceedings should last a month and the verdict unlikely to be delivered before March. The 55-year-old former interior minister served under the leadership of Jammeh whose rule from 1994 to 2016 was an autocratic one, marked by widespread human rights abuses, including harsh crackdowns on opposition members and his critics, as well as on journalists. Sonko is accused of having committed the alleged crimes in his roles first within the army, then as inspector general of the police and finally as a government minister. Detained after a complaint by the Geneva-based NGO Trial International, Sonko has been in custody in Switzerland since January 2017 after applying for asylum following his sacking from the post.