Gambia: Lawyer Says Sonko Not Freed from Rape Costs

Lawyer for Binta Jamba, Ms Annina Mullis, mentioned the allegations of a number of costs of rape towards Ousman Sonko by her consumer, along with one other sufferer that have been discontinued by the Swiss federal Prison Court docket don’t exonerate Ousman Sonko of those crimes.

Talking to us in Zurich after the decision in Bellinzona , Switzerland, Binta Jamba’s ruthless and uncompromising, protecting lawyer argued that discontinuing the case of Binta Jamba is by no means an acquittal for Ousman Sonko. She additional maintained that the choice doesn’t imply that the courtroom didn’t acknowledge the actual fact of the rape.

“Relatively, it didn’t qualify it as against the law towards humanity, a perspective that I strongly disagree with,” she mentioned.

The courtroom had discontinued, to make use of its actual phrases, “deserted,” the proceedings of a number of counts of rape (Article 190, paragraph 1 of the Swiss Prison Code) towards Mr Ousman Sonko, to the detriment of Binta Jamba.

Ms. Mullis argues that such a choice follows a sample of disregarding sexual and gender-based violence (SGBV) as a scientific violence and intentional device utilized in oppressive methods towards ladies that additionally impacts the broader society.

“For my part, it isn’t a person crime… however that is how the courtroom qualifies it: as a person crime that isn’t related to systematic violence through the Jammeh regime,” she mentioned, expressing her utter disappointment with the Swiss justice system on this topic.

That the courtroom dropped Binta’s case on authorized causes is seen as “extremely disappointing” by her lawyer, as a result of the knowledge that she and the prosecution supplied the courtroom amply illustrated that SGBV was a scientific observe as a type of violence in The Gambia below Jammeh, and never a person, remoted incident.

To proof that time to the courtroom, the lawyer had requested a number of witnesses to testify to this truth, which all had been rejected by the courtroom. Additionally, they might not present related data…

“With out these witnesses, the courtroom had ultimately determined there was no systematic use of SGBV, which I discover legally problematic and extremely disappointing,” she mentioned.

The Federal Prosecutor in her plea heard in March 2024, mentioned to the courtroom that from their Workplace’s standpoint, Binta JAMBA’s statements in regards to the rapes present a enough variety of completely different and actual traits that counsel that her statements are true and that the occasions occurred as she described.

“As a part of the described intensive and systematic assault towards the civilian inhabitants, the accused, as a then captain of the State Guard, is claimed to have repeatedly raped the widow of the killed coup-suspect soldier Almamo MANNEH, in Tujereng and Bakau between 2000 and 2002. He’s additionally mentioned to have imprisoned (her) in Banjul for a number of days in January 2005 because the then commander of the primary infantry battalion, and repeatedly tortured and raped her,” prosecution defined to the Court docket.

In distinction, the federal prosecutor mentioned Sonko’s statements are usually not very convincing. That he didn’t touch upon the occasions themselves. As a substitute, he accused Binta JAMBA of mendacity.

“So far, (Sonko) has not supplied any clarification as to why Binta JAMBA ought to lie. Additionally it is necessary to take into consideration that the accused doesn’t need to incriminate himself. He does not need to say something and might even lie. In reference to Binta JAMBA’s allegations, the accused was unable to supply any convincing the explanation why Binta JAMBA’s statements shouldn’t be believed…,” mentioned the Federal Prosecutor, additional arguing that Sonko went on the counterattack, by accusing the sufferer of being a liar.

Total, lawyer for Binta Jamba, Annina Mullis, sees the decision convicting Ousman Sonko as “a hit: “I feel this can be a sturdy place and if the courtroom needs so as to add particular person crimes, it should be greater, which isn’t potential,” she mentioned.

Underneath the Swiss judicial system, 20 years is the utmost penalty the courtroom may give Sonko, because it didn’t apply paragraph 2 of the ‘crimes towards humanity’ article within the Swiss Prison Code. However, the lawyer and her consumer are set to file an attraction towards the choices of the a number of counts of rape towards Sonko.

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