A Swiss court has heard allegations of torture in the ongoing trial of former Gambian Interior Minister Ousman Sonko. 

On Tuesday, an alleged torture victim, Modou Ngum,  told the court he was protesting electoral reforms in 2016 when he was arrested by Gambian police and tortured by National Intelligence Agency (NIA) officials.

Ngum said he was arrested alongside Ebrima Solo Sandeng, the protest leader and senior official of the opposition United Democratic Party (UDP).  

Sandeng died in custody following his alleged torture by NIA operatives. 

Ngum took the Swiss court into the NIA complex, describing the abhorrent conditions, and emotional and physical torture he says were meted out against him and others.

“They stripped me naked and took me to a room at the NIA,” Ngum, who was 29 years old at the time, said.

He told the court that Tamba Masireh, an NIA official found responsible by the High Court in Banjul for the torture of detainees, said they were going to kill him.

“The Junglers came. They beat me until I could not hear myself crying. They later threw me on the grass in an open courtyard. That was where I regained consciousness,” Ngum said. 

Ngum said he was electrocuted on his genitals. 

The protesters were sentenced to a 3-year jail term, but Ngum and several others could not appear in court for two weeks due to injuries allegedly caused by torture.

“They did not want the court to see me in that condition. That was why I was allowed to see a doctor,” he said. “They told us not to wear our clothes with which we were tortured. They bought us new clothes.”

Sonko was arrested in January 2017 in Switzerland where he sought asylum after falling out with Jammeh in 2016.

Swiss justice activists TRIAL International presented evidence of Sonko’s alleged crimes to Swiss police. 

The Swiss Attorney General’s office, along with 10 plaintiffs from Gambia, is accusing Sonko of torture, murder, false imprisonment, rape, and deprivation of liberty, allegedly perpetrated against Gambians during Jammeh’s rule.

Sonko denies all wrongdoing. He faces a 20-year prison sentence, including the six years already served, if convicted. The trial continues.