Security detention for Gambian ex-interior minister Sonko extended
Published: Friday, Jul 12th 2024, 12:10
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The preventive detention of former Gambian Interior Minister Ousman Sonko has been extended until August 15. This is the result of a decision by the Criminal Chamber of the Federal Criminal Court. It was issued following the public sentencing in mid-May, when Sonko was sentenced to 20 years' imprisonment.
The criminal division assumes that Sonko, who was convicted of multiple crimes against humanity, is a flight risk. The Gambian has been in custody for over seven and a half years. The court also ordered Sonko to be deported for twelve years.
Due to the prison sentence of 20 years handed down in the first instance, there is still no risk of so-called overdetention, according to the court. The extension of the preventive detention by three months is intended to ensure that Sonko cannot evade execution of his sentence.
The crimes charged against Sonko took place between 2000 and 2016. In September 2016, Gambian ruler Yahya Jammeh dismissed his long-serving interior minister. He fled shortly afterwards and eventually applied for asylum in Switzerland. Until his arrest in early 2017, he lived undisturbed in the transit center in Kappelen-Lyss BE. (Decision SN.2024.9 of 15.5.2024)
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