Prosecutor Reaffirms Swiss Jurisdiction In Trial Of Ex-Gambian Minister

On the second day of the appeal trial on Tuesday, the federal prosecutor and the representatives of the private plaintiffs were given the opportunity to comment on the several hours of statements made by Sonko's lawyer the previous day. Once again, a central point was the question of Switzerland's jurisdiction to prosecute the crimes against humanity allegedly committed by Sonko in The Gambia between 2006 and 2016.

On Monday, as part of preliminary proceedings, the defense spoke at length, challenging Switzerland's jurisdiction to prosecute certain charges.

Both the OAG and the representatives of the plaintiffs referred to customary international law as well as to the first-instance judgment, in which the judges had declared themselves competent. Reference was also made to a previous case in which the Federal Criminal Court had dealt with the charge of crimes against humanity, namely the trial of the Liberian Alieu Kosiah.

Sonko was sentenced in 2024 to 20 years' imprisonment for crimes against humanity committed while interior minister under Gambian President Yahya Jammeh, who ruled Gambia with an iron fist between 1994 and 2016.

In 2016, Sonko reportedly fled to Sweden, where his asylum application was rejected. Because he still had a visa for Switzerland due to his professional activity, he travelled to the Alpine country and applied for asylum.

This content was published on Jan 9, 2024 Who was Ousman Sonko? What was the Gambian ex-interior minister doing in Switzerland? And why is this a“landmark” case? Here's what you need to know.