HUMAN RIGHTS ABUSES
Swiss nab Jammeh minister
Former Gambian interior minister Ousman Sonko was detained in the Swiss capital Bern after a human rights abuses complaint by rights group TRIAL
Geneva — Switzerland on Thursday detained former Gambian interior minister Ousman Sonko, who is accused of committing grave abuses under the regime of ousted president Yahya Jammeh. The arrest, confirmed by Swiss prosecutors, comes as The Gambia prepared to welcome its new president Adama Barrow, who had fled to Senegal after beating Jammeh in a landmark election that sparked a political crisis. Sonko had been one of Jammeh’s top allies, serving in his presidential guard before leading the interior ministry from 2006 to 2016. Jammeh sacked him in September and Sonko fled to Sweden, where his request for asylum was rejected. Sonko was detained in the Swiss capital Bern after a complaint was filed by rights group TRIAL. "He will be interrogated soon," Amael Gschwind, a spokesman for Bern prosecutors said, confirming the arrest. TRIAL, which campaigns for the Swiss judicial system to act on crimes committed abroad, described Sonko as one of Jammeh’s "strongmen" and said he must have be...
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