By Tabora Bojang
Serrekunda West lawmaker, Madi Ceesay, who is a victim of torture during the former regime, has welcomed the landmark trial against former Interior Minister Ousman Sonko in Switzerland as ‘relief’ after a long wait for justice over mass atrocities committed under the Jammeh dictatorship.
Sonko, a former State Guards Commander, Inspector General of Police and Minister of Interior until 2016, appeared before a court in Switzerland Monday, accused of crimes against humanity over a litany of violations including killings, acts of sexual violence, torture and depriviation of liberties. He is the highest-ranking official to answer for atrocities committed during Jammeh’s 22 years rule.
“I feel a big relief because I have been with this pain and anger for quite a long time. And now that one of the perpetrators is brought to book, I have no doubt that justice will prevail and that comforts me a lot,” Ceesay, who travelled to Switzerland to testify against Sonko, told The Standard yesterday. Under Sonko’s reign, Ceesay was arrested and tortured by state agents when he was a media practitioner in the 2000s.
Among the witnesses to testify against Sonko include a rape survivor whose husband was killed in a plot he was allegedly involved.
Ceesay said the trial reinforces the hopes of many other victims in the Gambia that the “long arms of justice” will reach all perpetrators involved in human rights violations.
“This is a signal to perpetrators and would-be perpetrators that there is no place to hide after committing such crimes against humanity. Justice has its long arms. It has its eagle eyes.”
He argued that the Sonko trial is a “shame for the Barrow government” that it is failing in its responsibilities to serve justice to victims of the former regime.
“This is a process they are supposed to lead and now a state like Switzerland was able to trap Sonko and indict him. It is a shame back home. They need to take up their responsibilities and ensure that the remaining perpetrators in the Gambia are brought to justice as soon as possible for the betterment of the country and for the government,” Ceesay stated.
