Court extends security detention for Sonko due to risk of absconding
Published: Monday, Dec 16th 2024, 13:20
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The Criminal Chamber of the Federal Criminal Court has extended the preventive detention of Gambia's former interior minister, who was convicted in the first instance, until mid-February. This is to ensure the execution of the sentence, as there is a risk of absconding. Ousman Sonko was sentenced to 20 years' imprisonment in May.
As it became apparent that the preparation of the written judgment would take longer than the period of preventive detention granted up to that point, the criminal division extended the detention by a further three months in mid-November. This is the result of a decision by the chamber published on Monday.
The court writes that Sonko testified during the trial that he wanted to live in Gambia again. He had family members living there and in the USA. He had no closer ties to Switzerland. It can therefore be assumed that he is a flight risk.
Long prison sentence
Sonko has been in custody for almost eight years. Due to the prison sentence imposed, there is currently no risk of overdetention. This means that the sentence imposed is less long than the time spent in remand or preventive detention.
Sonko was convicted of multiple counts of intentional homicide and multiple counts of torture, both of which are crimes against humanity. The criminal division also ordered him to be expelled from the country for twelve years. According to the court, he was involved in crimes against the civilian population between 2000 and 2016 while working for the state and most recently as Minister of the Interior. The verdict against him is not yet final. (Decision SN.2024.9-2 from 14.11.2024)
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