(JollofNews) – The Government of the Gambia will not seek the extradition of former Interior minister Ousman Sonko from Switzerland.
Mr Sonko was arrested in January by Swiss authorities following a request for asylum.
His arrest was triggered by a complaint from Geneva-based non-governmental organisation, Trial International, in connection with his alleged role in the arrest, torture and disappearance of opponents of the former Gambian regime of Yahya Jammeh.
Although Mr Sonko is yet to be formally charged with any crime, Swiss prosecutors have last week extended his detention to enable them to look into allegations of other alleged crimes after hearing testimonies and complaints from more witnesses.
But Aboubacarr Tambadou, attorney general and minister of Justice said while the Government of the Gambia will cooperate with the Swiss authorities, it will not seek for Sonko’s extradition.
“We are cooperating in their investigations and prosecution of Ousman Sonko [in Switzerland],” he told the independent Point Newspaper.
Asked if the government prefers Sonko to be tried in Switzerland instead of The Gambia, Minister Tambadou said: “Whatever the government prefers does not make any difference. He is being prosecuted before the courts and we are cooperating with the Swiss authorities in that.”
He said his ministry is furnishing the Swiss authorities with materials to help in Sonko’s prosecution.
Torture him before you kill him or hand him over to the victims families. He is an evil bastard. Does not deserve to live..
My thoughts Alert and Remind me of two Potentially Guilty Long Term Jammeh Government Officials namely, Former Police Chief Sonko and the Head of the Gambian Army General Kinteh. Sonko was the Police Chief when Solo Sandeng was arrested and “subsequently killed”. He was also the Police Chief when Ousainou Darbo and Co., were arrested and jailed. Both Kinteh and Sonko are still in the Gambia and gainfully employed without molestation or Harassment by the UDP LED REGIME OF ADAMA BARROW, OUSAINOU DARBO AND MAI FATTY. WHY? Objective Observers Conclude its Ethnicity Transcending the Pursuit of Justice. How do we Square this Circular Problem Cheapening Our National Security and Interest with Selective and Unequal Treatment? Only Time Will Tell. One Gambia, One Destiny.
Sidi Bojang
May Almighty Allah, The Omnipotent, The Omnipresent and The Omniscient rid our society of unscrupulous idiotic bigots like you. Your nasty agenda against the Mandinka ethnic group will be your undoing just like your fellow nasty kin by the name of Yahya Jammeh who was chased out of our beloved country for similar antics.
President Barrow and his government are trying to create an inclusive society where people are judged not by their tribes but the contents of their characters. If one is to believe in your idiotic assertions, then why is Lang Tombong Tamba free and not in jail. Is his case also selective justice? There are lots of Jolas who committed abominable crimes against our people and are still walking on our streets as free men. How do you justify your twisted claim of selective justice when idiots i mentioned above are free.
Give us all a break Sidi from such hateful incendiary outburst that if not stopped is going to burn your sorry ass before anybody. Shame on you.
Natty Naughty, you still Pandering? I thought by now you would have been pick up from the “Street Corner”. I was wrong. Sorry sister. If you need Soap for your Foul Mouth let me know.
Difference was that though Kinteh and Sonko are police respectively military heads at time, they were not part of the inner circle jammeh jungulars. Badgie brothers, ousman sonko, sanna manjang and jammeh himself were pulling the strings and directing the assassinations. That is a significant yardstick how to view the jammeh modus operandi.
Nonsensical gibberish and Fiction. You, nor anyone Except those in the inner circle of the “Jammeh Government” can with some amount of accuracy, make your Assumptions and Declarations about the Role (s) these Top Officials in the Jammeh Government played during their Collusion, Cooperation and Yes, Carrying Out their Tasks within the Positions they Occupied. Some of those Tasks involved the Same Acts or Similar Acts and Tasks that others who are not in Sonko and Kinteh’s Positions were Arrested and Detained for and Still being Held for. But the “Two “Untouchables” are Not Arrested, Nor Detained”. What in Reality and Moral Fibre explains this Selective Anomaly. No amount of Twisting, Turning of the Truth Upside down, attempting to Turn Vultures into Eagles, would work. Gambians are Silently Watching and Taking Note of the Selective Arrrests, Detentions and Purgings of some, while leaving others go Free. It is an “Animal Farm” Fiction brought to Real Life in the Gambia. “Some animals are more equal than others”? I think not. These are two Individuals who were in the Fore Front and Higher echelons of the Jammeh Government. They were Knee Deep in all alleged Human Rights Violations of the Jammeh Government, as much as they are again Knee Deep in the Current Authoritarian Actions and Behavior of the UDP Government of the “Four Appocalyse” Leadership of the Current Gambian Regime of “See No Evil, Hear No Evil, Pretend to Know Nothing” Unless the Victims are of UDP or of UDP Leadership’s Ethnic Group. What took Jammeh and his Government Decades to accomplish, the Current UDP Led Regime is on Track to accomplish within a Year or Three Years of Authoritarian Acts and Behavior. The Truth must be told. What the Jammeh Government was Accused and Condermned Off in the Past, is being Reproduced and Re-enacted on a Weekly basis if not Daily by the UDP Led Government in the Gambia. Yet, the same People who were Seemingly Outraged by Jammeh’s Regime’s Deeds now Dismiss, make all Irrational and Intellectual Bankrupt Arguements and Excuses that are an Insult to all Gambians with some Moral fibre. The Hypocracy, Self-Serving and Ethnic Group Based Politics of “Fassaya” (Mandinka for Taking Side regardless of how Wrong the Side one is on), needs to be Purged, Surgically Removed From the Gambian Politics and Society. Failure to do so, Portends and Guarantees Difficult and Dangerous Days ahead in the Gambia. All those Guilty must be Treated Equally Under the Law. No more Cases like the Kanilai Peaceful Protesters being Shot at and killing One Haruna Jatta Vis a Viewing the Kids Gloves Manner the Farato-Baffuloto Village Rioters who Destroyed Private Property were handled. Those at Kanilai were Arrested and still remain Detained, while the Farato-Baffuloto Village Rioters all have been Released. If this is not a Double Standard, What is? This is just one example. There have been many since the Current Gambian Regime came into Power. No Ethnic Group or Blood is more Costly than Others or the Rest in the Gambia. Not Unraveling and Exposing the Current Double Standards and Deadly Noxious Agenda of Marginalization, Purging and Subjugation of Other Ethnic Groups in the Gambia by One Ethnic Group or Region is a Dangerous and Loosing Proposition. The Current Gambian Regime Needs to Dial Back on Such Actions, Behavior and Statements from both the UDP Led Government Leadership or its Extremists Elements on GRTS, Online Radio Stations, Online News Papers, and in Mosques and at “Bantabas” (Mandinka for Meeting Place). What Gambia and Gambians need at this time, most of all is Painful, Blistering Truth and Moral Fibre from all Stakeholders Speaking Up when they See Injustice, Corruption and Corruptive Practices at all Levels. There are No Fula, Jola, Mandinka, Manjak, Serahule, Serere or Wolof Corruption, Marginalization, Purgings, Torture, or Killings. When they happen, they happen because Gambians of all Ethnic groups are willing to inflict them on fellow Gambians, while other Gambians look the other way or Rationalize the Actions or Behavior. Holding on Jammeh and Jammeh’s Regime’s Deeds and Ghosts as a Panacea to Any and all Wrongs in the Current Gambian Regime is Not a Way to Govern a Country like the Gambia, With its “Experience” it emerged from recently.
Mr Sidi Bojang the man with the biggest chip on his shoulders, where was you when your master Jammeh Appointed his tribesmen into key positions? the list is as follows: Central Bank, Jola, head of army (cds) Jola, head of prison, Jola, Interior minister, Jola, head of the junglers, Jola, head of state house guard, Jola and Essa Badjie the former police chief Jola. If you got any evidence against those you mentioned above, why don’t you come forward with it. I would like to know why you seem to think one Sonko is a Mandinka the other is a Jola, do you know them personally?
Those who live in glass houses shouldn’t throw stones, the man you support is the biggest tribalist Gambia will ever have as a leader. Anyone who is found wanting in crimes against Gambians should face the full force of the law regardless of which tribe you belong to. Minority Groups do face prejudice in every society but your accusations directed at the coalition gov. is baseless and dishonest.
JanJan1 or more accurately Janah Janah2, you accuse me of supposedly assuming that General Kinteh and Yankuba Sonko, the former Chief of Police are Mandinka. Come clean Janah Janah2. They are Mandinka and I know that for a fact. It is not their Mandinka that is an issue. The issue is the Selective Arrrests and Detentions of the others who were Co-conspirators and Perpetrators of Similar Crimes of Commission or Ommission during their years of Collusion in the Second Republic. I have not received nor solicited for a position in the Second Republic. I am not a Member of any Political Party. I definitely do not want to be Politically Correct when the Current Gambian Regime led by UDP is taking on the APRC Regime’s Face and Personalities with Vengeance at the very start of it’s coming to Power. Gambians Must not be Cowed Down not Silenced by Subterfuge and Double Standards of Ethnic Group and Regional Politics. It is Not Sustainable and it is Not Worthy of the Voters and the Sacrifice of those who gave the Ultimate to have a New Dispensation. What Wrong During the APRC Regime is Equally Wrong if it is Practiced and is being Practiced in the UDP Led Regime Currently in Power. The Juvenile Parroting of “where were you during “Jammeh’s” Regime”? I was and still Abroad. What does that have to do with the Price of Rice, Groundnuts, Lack of Reliable Electricity and Water Supply, Rampant Crime and Insecurity Currently Pervasive in the Gambia? These are the Life-changing experience of the Gambians that the Current Gambian Regime Should be Focused on. One People, One Destiny Moving Forward.
Very Interesting piece. I hasten to add that the cracks in the current leadership of the country emasculated by the regional preferences of our new power brokers: Three captains manning the same ship each with his/her own agenda. It is called ‘ethnicity apartheid’.
What justifications are there to remove the MD of NAWEC and replace him with Fatajo, a relative of lawyer Darboe, who is still grappling with making uninterruptible power supply to Gambians a reality. Electricity supply has been so erratic under his management that it is now a way of life for us. How about the MD of SSHFC , who is away for a month to be trained on how to manage the Social Security. The ineptitude and lack of due diligence in matters of civil service delivery by the SG is so conspicuous for all public servant to stomach. These and many ‘square pegs’ put on ’round holes’ are setting us back. We fought dictatorship and thought that we are now free to take back our country to the promised ‘land’ only to be confronted with the evil vices of nepotism, tribalism and daylight corruption. The struggle is yet to be over
Nyima Bojang, I agree with you the electricity is terrible among other things, Gambians should start protesting let your voices be heard, on the one hand you now have free speech as a tool, the only problem is they take back the free speech with the other hand, you need a permit! to protest, the mind games politics play.