A Swiss court sentences a former Gambian interior minister to 20 years for crimes against humanity

Switzerland’s top criminal court has convicted a former interior minister of Gambia for crimes against humanity for his role in repression by the west African country’s security forces against opponents of its longtime dictator. Legal advocacy group TRIAL International said Wednesday that Ousman Sonko was sentenced to 20 years in prison. He was Gambia’s interior minister from 2006 to 2016 under then-President Yahya Jammeh. The trial was hailed as a major breakthrough in application of “universal jurisdiction.” That principle allows the prosecution of serious crimes committed abroad. The verdict was read out in Swiss federal criminal court in southern Bellinzona on Wednesday.