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The lawyer of Gambian former Minister of the Interior Ousman Sonko (54) has called for his client’s acquittal. According to him, there was no widespread and systematic attack on the Gambian civilian population between 2000 and 2016. The suspicious actions are individual actions for which his client is not responsible.
In support of his view of the general political situation at the time of the crime, the lawyer referred to asylum decisions of the Federal Administrative Court for people from The Gambia. The Federal Administrative Court states that there is no war or civil war in the small West African country and that there is no situation of general violence.
In his plea, the lawyer cited a 2009 judgment in which the Federal Administrative Court described Gambia as a tourist paradise with luxury hotels and holiday villages on the coast. The lawyer also points out that the State Secretariat for Migration (SEM) has carried out situation analyzes throughout the period to ensure the admissibility of the return of rejected asylum seekers.
“No crimes against humanity”
Because, according to the lawyer, the requirement of a systematic attack on the civilian population is not met, there can be no question of crimes against humanity. Individual crimes should therefore be investigated in accordance with ordinary criminal law. As the lawyer noted, the crimes in this case were time-barred or he considered Sonko’s involvement unproven.
The Federal Public Prosecutor’s Office (BA) counts a total of 13 victims over a period of 16 years. There is a lack of coherence between these cases, which are divided into five thematic complexes. The lawyer explained the murder of a soldier in 2000, who was a confidant of then president Yayah Jammeh (58), by saying that he wanted to avoid arrest. The man was suspected of participating in an attempted coup.
According to the complaint, Sonko’s wife was then raped numerous times and unlawfully restrained by Sonko. The lawyer explained that the woman had several reasons for telling the untruth. The failure of her husband’s coup deprived her of the opportunity to become the country’s first lady, which she might have wanted had the coup been successful.
Arrests of opposition members “were allowed”
Regarding the arrests of subsequent torture victims after an attempted coup in 2006 and a demonstration in 2016, the lawyer reiterated that the arrests were permissible. An investigation would be launched in every country following an attempted coup.
And the arrests at a demonstration by opposition members in 2016 were also permitted as such. On the one hand, the organizers did not receive permission. And it wasn’t so much a peaceful demonstration as an uprising.
It is completely unacceptable that those arrested were tortured by members of the Junglers paramilitary unit. The interrogations of those arrested took place at the secret service and Sonko had no authority over them or the junglers.
Federal prosecutors are seeking a life sentence
And Sonko also had no influence on the prison conditions of those affected. The security wing of the Mile 2 prison in the capital Banjul was under the auspices of the army and therefore under President Jammeh.
Federal prosecutors have charged Sonko with crimes against humanity and are seeking a life sentence. After resigning as Minister of the Interior in September 2016, Sonko fled to Switzerland, where he applied for asylum.
He is seeking damages of R200 per day for the time he has spent in custody since January 25, 2017 – a total of R519,000. In addition, Sonko wants to be compensated with approximately 290,000 francs for the days he spent in prison under allegedly illegal conditions. For what the lawyer claims was a complete deprivation of food for 33 hours in February 2020, Sonko is also seeking damages of a further R10,000. (SDA/oco)
Source:Blick
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