Gambian ex-official held in probe of alleged abuses

Swiss authorities have opened an investigation into suspected crimes against humanity against a former Gambian interior minister who applied for asylum in Switzerland, officials said on Thursday. A Bernese court ordered the arrest of Ousman Sonko, who served under Yahya Jammeh, the dictator who ruled the West African country for 22 years. Sonko was sacked by Jammeh and then fled for Europe. He has been living in an asylum center in canton Bern since last November. "He has been arrested and will be heard soon," Amaël Gschwind, a spokesperson for the cantonal prosecutor, told Swiss public television, SRF. Authorities confirmed they also launched an investigation into suspected crimes against humanity by Sonko, who commanded an elite squad in Gambia notorious for its brutality. Last September, Sonko tried to obtain asylum in Sweden. He then fled to Switzerland, where he filed an asylum application. After his presence became known, the Geneva-based group TRIAL ...

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