Politics

Gambian ex-minister convicted in Swiss court for crimes against humanity

Published

5 months ago

May 17, 2024

In a landmark decision utilizing Europe’s universal jurisdiction, a Swiss court on Wednesday found a former Gambian government minister guilty of crimes against humanity committed under former dictator Yahya Jammeh. It sentenced him to 20 years in prison.

Ousman Sonko was convicted guilty of multiple counts of deliberate killing, torture, and false detention by the Federal Criminal Court. The former interior minister of the Gambia, Sonko, was cleared of any charges of sexual assault in 2016.

“The trial chamber found Ousman Sonko guilty of multiple counts of intentional homicide, multiple counts of torture and multiple counts of deprivation of liberty, each as a crime against humanity,” the court said in a statement.

“The trial chamber concludes that Ousman Sonko committed these crimes…. as part of a systematic attack against the civilian population.”

Using universal jurisdiction, which enables the prosecution of the most serious crimes anywhere, Sonko is the highest-ranking official to ever be tried by a European nation. The campaign organization TRIAL International, located in Geneva, backed the plaintiffs when they launched the initial complaint against Sonko.

While criticizing his seven-year pre-trial imprisonment, which he claimed included some time in solitary confinement, Sonko refuted the allegations and charged the plaintiffs with lying.

Jammeh and Sonko had a falling out during the last few months of the dictator’s 22-year totalitarian reign, which came to an end in January 2017 when the leader was forced to leave to exile in Equatorial Guinea following an electoral setback. Sonko was detained in Switzerland in the same month he applied for asylum.

Using universal jurisdiction, which enables the prosecution of the most serious crimes anywhere, Sonko is the highest-ranking official to ever be tried by a European nation.

The campaign organization TRIAL International, located in Geneva, backed the plaintiffs when they launched the initial complaint against Sonko.

While criticizing his seven-year pre-trial imprisonment, which he claimed included some time in solitary confinement, Sonko refuted the allegations and charged the plaintiffs with lying.

Sonko was detained in Switzerland in the same month he applied for asylum. Meanwhile, the public prosecutor in Switzerland had requested the maximum sentence of life in jail.

“The conviction of Ousman Sonko, one of the pillars of Yahya Jammeh’s brutal regime, is a major step on the long road to justice for Jammeh’s victims,” Reed Brody, a war crimes prosecutor attending the trial, told Reuters.

“The long arm of the law is catching up with Yahya Jammeh’s accomplices all around the world, and hopefully will soon catch up with Jammeh himself,” he said.

The Bellinzona court heard details of crimes allegedly committed between 2000 and 2016 by Sonko or under his supervision between January and March. This is Switzerland’s second-ever civilian prosecution for crimes against humanity.

Politics

Nigerian Air Force adds 34 Italian planes, helicopters

Published

3 days ago

October 15, 2024

Ifeoluwa Dada

Nigeria’s air force is acquiring 24 Italian-made M-346 attack jets and ten AW-109 Trekker helicopters as part of a fleet renewal strategy, a spokesperson said on Monday.

Air Force spokesperson, Olusola Akinboyewa, said in a statement that a team led by Nigeria’s Chief of the Air Staff Air Marshal Hasan Abubakar met with executives from Italy’s Leonardo S.p.A, the manufacturer, in Rome who confirmed the first three M-346 aircraft were expected to be delivered by early 2025, with subsequent deliveries running until mid-2026.

The Trekker helicopters are expected by early 2026, Akinboyewa said.

“The M-346 and Trekker acquisitions are key steps towards fleet renewal,” Abubakar was cited as saying, emphasizing the need for a maintenance hub in Nigeria to provide long-term support, particularly for the M-346 fleet.

Nigeria, which has been fighting a 15-year Islamist insurgency against Boko Haram and the Islamic State West Africa Province (ISWAP) in the northeast, as well as attacks by armed bandits in the northwest, has increased military spending in recent years.

Nigeria received two “Huey” helicopters in June to go with the two Trekkers it had previously purchased and the twelve American-built A-29 Super Tucano light attack jets it had been given in 2021 to combat rebels.

Wing Loong II drones manufactured in China are still awaiting delivery.

Politics

Cameroon prohibits discussing 91-year-old President Biya’s health

Published

6 days ago

October 12, 2024

Ifeoluwa Dada

In response to growing suspicion that 91-year-old President Paul Biya was ill, Cameroon has banned any talk regarding Biya’s health, according to a letter released by the interior ministry.

The reports that the president had been unwell were brushed off as “pure fantasy” by the administration, which released comments earlier this week stating that he was in good condition and on a private visit to Geneva.

Paul Atanga Nji, the interior minister, stated that talking about the president’s health was a matter of national security in a letter to regional governors dated October 9.

“Therefore, it is strictly forbidden to have any discussion about the president’s condition in the media going forward.” The whole weight of the law would be applied to offenders, Nji stated.

He gave the governors orders to form teams to keep an eye on social media and private media broadcasts.

If Biya passed away or was too sick to hold office, the oil- and cocoa-producing nation of Cameroon—which has only had two presidents since gaining independence from France and Britain in the early 1960s—would probably be faced with a difficult succession situation.

The National Communication Council, Cameroon’s media regulator, could not be reached for comment at this time. Many criticised the action as an example of state censorship.

“The president is elected by Cameroonians and it’s just normal that they worry about his whereabouts,” said Hycenth Chia, a Yaounde-based journalist and talk show host on privately owned television Canal2 International.

“We see liberal discussions on the health of Joe Biden and other world leaders, but here it is a taboo,” he told Reuters.

Committee to Protect Journalists, an advocacy group for press freedom, expressed its deep concern.

“Trying to hide behind national security on such a major issue of national importance is outrageous,” said Angela Quintal, head of the CPJ’s Africa Program.

Since early September, when Biya attended a China-Africa summit in Beijing, she has not been sighted in public. His absence at a summit in France last weekend, which was scheduled, fuelled even more public speculation about his health.

President Biya is one of several long-serving African leaders, including Yoweri Museveni of Uganda, who has been in office since 1982, and Teodoro Obiang Nguema Mbasogo of Equatorial Guinea, Rwanda’s Paul Kagame is also gradually evolving into the group.