The former Gambian minister of interior has given a defiant closing speech in his trial in Switzerland, claiming to be a victim of racism and lies.

Ousman Sonko, who served under the Jammeh regime, is the highest-ranking official ever to be tried in Europe for crimes against humanity using universal jurisdiction which allows the most serious crimes to be prosecuted anywhere.

During the trial in Switzerland’s Federal Criminal Court in Bellinzona, the court heard details of the charges of rape, torture and murder allegedly committed between 2000-2016 either by Sonko or under his watch.

“I regret that they (the plaintiffs) discredited themselves in this way by lying, with the sole aim of supporting the accusation against me, in defiance of the truth,” Sonko, 55, said in closing remarks before the court late on Thursday.

He also denounced his seven-year pre-trial detention – a period which he said was partly spent in solitary confinement and affected his health. 

Sonko told the court it was “part of a history of colonialism and racism”.

“My country does not need expiatory victims immolated before foreign judges,” he said.

Sonko fell out with Jammeh in the final months of his 22-year repressive rule before the latter was forced to flee in January 2017 after an election defeat. That same month, Sonko was arrested in Switzerland while seeking asylum.

Switzerland’s public prosecutor is seeking the maximum penalty of life imprisonment.

(Reuters)