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In accordance with the code of criminal procedure, the parties were allowed to provide rebuttal arguments. “Ousman Sonko, the second most influential person from the reign of Yahya Jammeh, is on trial. There is no question that Yahya Jammeh and all his supporters should be prosecuted and brought to justice for the crimes they have committed against the Ga...

Disclaimer: The following highlight aims to objectively report the main arguments presented by the defense of Ousman Sonko in its closing arguments. TRIAL International does not endorse the following statements. The organization recalls that it does its best to summarize as accurately as possible what was said during the trial and cannot be held responsible fo...

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...