Campaigns

Roger Lumbala, on trial in France for complicity in crimes against humanity in the DRC, has rejected the legitimacy and jurisdiction of the French courts to try him, dismissed his defense team, and refused to appear before court. The trial of Lumbala, who had previously cooperated with the investigation, will proceed despite his absence. The court has appointed one...

Justice and international law, long taken for granted, are now - just after civilians - among the first victims of the multiplication of conflicts and the trivialization of impunity. Over the coming years, TRIAL International will place the fight against double standards and for fair justice at the heart of its mission. That’s why, in May, we filed two denunciations w...

©TRIAL International / Several of the plaintiffs in the Ousman Sonko case at the trial start before the court entrance. Ousman Sonko is being accused, among other charges, of having participated in the murder of Almamo Manneh, former member of the State Guards, in January 2000 and, of having sexually assaulted his widow between the years 2000 to...

Arguments on the parties’ credibility The plaintiffs’ legal representatives started their closing arguments by supporting the Prosecutor’s case for the conviction of Ousman Sonko for crimes against humanity. In general, it was argued and illustrated that Ousman Sonko had repeatedly and deliberately misled the Swiss prosecuting authorities from the beginning of t...

The legal representative generally supported the Prosecutor’s closing arguments in favor of the conviction of Ousman Sonko for crimes against humanity. Arguments on the contextual elements of crimes against humanity The counsel for the plaintiffs reiterated that the policy of violent suppression of any opposition by the Jammeh regime was implemented by all secur...

The Plaintiffs’ counsel began her closing arguments by generally supporting the Prosecutor’s case for the conviction of Ousman Sonko for crimes against humanity, particularly in support of her clients who were victims of atrocities in 2000 and 2006. Pleading on the contextual elements of the crimes against humanity The argumentation started with a reminder of th...

Part 3: The sentencing After pleading Ousman Sonko’s responsibility for each and every charge, the prosecutor went on to discuss sentencing. According to Swiss law: The sentence is to be assessed according to the culpability of the offender, which is to be determined on the basis of the severity of the violation or the endangerment of the legal interest...

Part 2: The charges After describing the Gambian context and Ousman Sonko’s knowledge of the generalized and systematic attacks against the civilian population since the early years of Yahya Jammeh’s presidency, the Prosecutor addressed the Court on the accused’s criminal responsibility for the various specific crimes with which he is charged. Murder of a former m...

Part 1: The context After having formally opened the session, the Court rejected the defense’s request to postpone the closing arguments to April 2024 in order for him to get more time to prepare his arguments and review the case in light of very recent case law. The Court then gave the floor to the Prosecutor “A system that must take life must first give justi...