By Our International Correspondent
The trial of Former Interior Minister and Inspector General of The Gambia Ousman Sonko began this Monday 8th January 2024 in the Swiss Federal Court in Bellinzona city. Madi Ceesay and Co are off to Switzerland to explain their version of the allege crimes against humanity.
Ceesay is among up to ten other private plaintiffs in the criminal case against former Minister/ IGP of the Gambia, OusmanSonko.
In the summary of the indictment, the accused Ousman SONKO is alleged to have committed various serious crimes in The Gambia between 2000 and 2016, sometimes alone and sometimes in collaboration with a collective of perpetrators consisting of the then President Yahya JAMMEH and leading members of the security forces and prison services of The Gambia. As part of a widespread and systematic attack against the civilian
population of The Gambia, Ousman SONKO, in his functions initially as a member of the Gambia
Army, then as Inspector General of Police and finally as Minister of Interior, partly alone or mostly
with the collective of perpetrators, deliberately killed, tortured, raped and severely deprived people of their liberty unlawfully.
Specifically, in January 2000 in Banjul, Ousman SONKO, in complicity with the collective of
perpetrators, deliberately killed Almamo MANNEH, a soldier suspected of being involved in a
coup. In the aftermath of the killing of Almamo MANNEH, from January 2000 to approximately
April2002, Ousman SONKO repeatedly raped AlmamoMANNEH’s widow, Binta JAMBA, in
Tujereng and in the vicinity of Bakau. In January 2005, OusmanSONKO tortured and
raped Binta JAMBA in Banjul and unlawfully deprived her of her liberty.
In connection with an attempted coup in March 2006, OusmanSONKO, in connivance with the
collective of perpetrators, tortured, unlawfully deprived of liberty and raped various persons,
members of the army, politicians and journalists, specifically Bunja DARBOE, Ramzia DIAB,
Demba DEM, Musa SAIDYKHAN and Madi CEESAY, in Banjul criminal act of Ousman Sonko who was since 2017 held in Swiss.
