Sonko’s lawyer, Phillip Currat, had filed an appeal against the decision of the Supreme Court of the Canton of Berne on the 1st February 2024, challenging “unlawful conditions of detention” - the Cantonal Court noted that Sonko’s lawyer had not in any way substantiated how the conditions of detention he was alleging constituted inhuman or degrading treatment.
The unlawful conditions that were being alleged in 2024 centers around Sonko’s access to hygiene products like soap, tooth paste, a window in his cell and confined space of his cell, among other things, which, under the European human rights law, which he was alleging to be torturous, and constituting serious damages to his health as a result. These are serious allegations under rights of prisoners in Switzerland, and on which his lawyer was relying on to seek his release from detention in compensation for such alleged violations.
Invoking various treaty provisions, including Article 3 of the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR) to which Switzerland is a party, Sonko’s lawyer explained to the courts, in particular, that he had been detained in a regional prison from 27 January 2017 to 4 September 2018, alone, for 23 hours a day in a cell with a single window that could only be partially opened and whose glass was opaque, so that he could not benefit from daylight or see outside.
He also reported that all his assets had been confiscated, or somewhat frozen, so that he could not buy anything from the prison canteen or have access to hygiene products, and that he had not been allowed any visits apart from that of his lawyer.
According to our findings in Switzerland, the only person who has been visiting Ousman Sonko besides his lawyer is his former wife, Njameh Bah, who currently lives in the United States. Like Njameh Bah, Sonko had divorced from a number of other women before he fled to Switzerland in 2016 – and most of his family members live in The Gambia and Southern Senegalese region of Cassamance.
However, because the authorities in Switzerland take matters of human rights seriously, his lawyer pursuit of such remedies were given a chance to be heard when on 27thJanuary 2023, opened supervisory proceedings but denied the appellant party status (denying them to be a party to the case and ordering an investigation immediately and seriously).
The (Code of Criminal Procedure) of Switzerland provides that the authorities are to regulate the rights and obligations of remand prisoners, their right of appeal, disciplinary measures and the supervision of detention facilities.The same principles apply to institutional treatment in a closed environment, the appeals court upheld.
On at least three occasions, Sonko’s long time lawyer, who in an aside with this reporter, admitted that the relation between him and Sonko had grown from client to a family over the years, would not relent in fighting for Sonko’s total freedom in Switzerland. Such efforts had culminated in a fresh appeal launched following the conviction on charges related to crimes against humanity in Bellinzona, Ticino, in May 2024.
This latest appeal launched against the decision of the Federal Criminal Court will open in Bellinzona on March 30th, 2026, to which all parties are participating. The Point has learnt that just as Sonko’s lawyer is appealing for the turning of this conviction, the office of the Federal Prosecutor, along with several other plaintiff victims from The Gambia are also joining the case to contest decisions that on their part, had shown leniency on the accused.
However, several victims contacted for comments on Sonko’s imprisonment in Switzerland find his claims ingenuine. “If conditions in Switzerland are not standard enough for him, he should be brough to Banjul to have a taste of the conditions of his own Mile 2 Central Prisons,” said Bojang, from Jamburr in The Gambia.
