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The Guardian - UK
The Guardian - UK
World
Ashifa Kassam and agencies

Gambian ex-minister on trial in Switzerland for crimes against humanity

Plaintiffs (left to right) Demba Dem, Fatou Camara, Madi Ceesay, Ramzia Diab, Binta Jamba and an unidentified accompanying person pose before the trial.
Plaintiffs (left to right) Demba Dem, Fatou Camara, Madi Ceesay, Ramzia Diab, Binta Jamba and an unidentified accompanying person before the trial. Photograph: Elodie Le Maou/AFP/Getty Images

A former Gambian minister has become the highest-ranking official to be tried in Europe under the principles of universal jurisdiction after his trial on charges of crimes against humanity opened in Switzerland.

Ousman Sonko, interior minister under the west African country’s ousted dictator Yahya Jammeh, was arrested in Bern in 2017 after applying for asylum in Switzerland.

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