Explore...

  This article is part of the daily summaries of the trial of Ousman Sonko, former Interior Minister of The Gambia, which took place between January and March 2024 in Bellinzona, Switzerland. During this time, TRIAL International did its best to capture the most important points discussed during the hearings and cannot be held responsible for any errors...

  This article is part of the daily summaries of the trial of Ousman Sonko, former Interior Minister of The Gambia, which took place between January and March 2024 in Bellinzona, Switzerland. During this time, TRIAL International did its best to capture the most important points discussed during the hearings and cannot be held responsible for any err...

  This article is part of the daily summaries of the trial of Ousman Sonko, former Interior Minister of The Gambia, which took place between January and March 2024 in Bellinzona, Switzerland. During this time, TRIAL International did its best to capture the most important points discussed during the hearings and cannot be held responsible for any err...

  This article is part of the daily summaries of the trial of Ousman Sonko, former Interior Minister of The Gambia, which took place between January and March 2024 in Bellinzona, Switzerland. During this time, TRIAL International did its best to capture the most important points discussed during the hearings and cannot be held responsible for any err...

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...

Two years ago, the world watched with dismay as Russian forces invaded Ukraine. This conflict, far from fading, continues to claim lives, destroy critical infrastructure and blatantly violate international law. Civilians, the primary victims of this tragedy, are suffering atrocities that should never occur again. I have personally witnessed the devastating...