By Patience Mama Loum
The appeal trial of Ousman Sonko,a former Interior Minister of The Gambia, will open on 30 March before the Higher Appeals Chamber of the Swiss Federal Criminal Court in Bellinzona, Switzerland, marking a critical next phase in one of Europe’s most significant universal jurisdiction cases.
Sonko was convicted on 15 May 2024 of multiple counts of crimes against humanity for abuses committed between 2000 and 2016, during the authoritarian rule of former Gambian president Yahya Jammeh. He was sentenced to 20 years’ imprisonment after a landmark trial that examined systematic torture, unlawful detention, extrajudicial killings and other serious violations carried out by state security forces.
The appeal was filed by the convicted former minister, the Swiss Office of the Attorney General, and ten civil parties, indicating that both procedural and substantive elements of the first-instance judgment will be re-examined by the court.
Scope and significance of the appeal
The appeal proceedings will revisit key legal and factual questions raised during the trial, including issues of individual criminal responsibility, command responsibility, evidentiary assessment, and sentencing. Appeals by civil parties suggest dissatisfaction with aspects of the ruling, potentially including the scope of convictions or reparations, while the prosecution’s appeal indicates a challenge to parts of the judgment it considers legally or factually insufficient.
The hearings will begin with the formal opening of proceedings on 30 March 2026, followed by substantive hearings scheduled for 31 March to 2 April 2026.
Sonko’s prosecution represents a watershed moment in international criminal justice. His case was only the second trial for crimes against humanity in Swiss judicial history and the first to involve a former Gambian official. More notably, Sonko became the highest-ranking state official ever tried in Europe for international crimes under the principle of universal jurisdiction.
Universal jurisdiction allows national courts to prosecute individuals for the gravest international crimes, such as crimes against humanity, war crimes, and genocide, regardless of where the crimes were committed or the nationality of the victims or perpetrators. Switzerland exercised this jurisdiction after Sonko was arrested on Swiss territory in 2017, following a criminal complaint filed by victims and supported by international human rights organisations.
During the initial proceedings, prosecutors argued that Sonko bore responsibility for crimes committed by security forces under his authority, including members of the Junglers, a paramilitary unit directly linked to Jammeh’s regime. The court found that the crimes were neither isolated nor incidental but formed part of a widespread and systematic attack against civilians perceived as political opponents.
