Switzerland’s top criminal court has convicted a former interior minister of the Gambia for crimes against humanity during repression by the west African country’s security forces against opponents of its longtime dictator, a legal advocacy group said Wednesday. Ousman Sonko, the Gambia’s interior minister from 2006 to 2016 under then-President Yahya Jammeh, was sentenced to 20 years in prison, Trial International said on the platform X. + Sonko trial: prosecutor demands life imprisonment for Gambian ex-minister The trial that began in January was seen by advocacy groups as an opportunity to reach a conviction under “universal jurisdiction,” which allows the prosecution of serious crimes committed abroad. The verdict was read out in Switzerland's Federal Criminal Court in Bellinzona, canton Ticino, on Wednesday. + Why Gambian ex-minister is on trial in Switzerland for crimes against humanity Sonko applied for asylum in Switzerland in November 2016 and was arrested two months later.
