Swiss supreme court upholds Liberian ex-rebel commander’s 20-year sentence

Ao vivo Clique aqui para pesquisar pesquisar Cadastre-se Navegação menu seta-esquerda seta-direita Notícias|Conflito Tribunal supremo suíço mantém sentença de 20 anos do ex-comandante rebelde liberiano Alieu Kosiah que matou civis e soldados desarmados, e ordenou saques e outros crimes contra a humanidade.

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Primeiro grupo de deportados dos EUA, de um total esperado de 1. 200, chega ao Libéria.

Em 2021, o Tribunal Criminal Federal da Suíça condenou Kosiah, agora com 51 anos, por múltiplas atrocidades cometidas durante a primeira das guerras civis consecutivas de Libéria, nas quais cerca de 250.

In 2023, the court’s appeals chamber upheld his 20-year sentence for war crimes and, for the first time in Swiss history, also made a new ruling that Kosiah was guilty of crimes against humanity.

The Federal Supreme Court of Switzerland was asked to review the case, and its verdict, dated September 28, was published on Friday.

The court “rejected the appeal filed by a high-ranking Liberian military official challenging his conviction for violations of the laws of war committed between 1993 and 1995 during the first Liberian civil war”, it said in a statement.

Switzerland recognises the principle of universal jurisdiction, which allows it to prosecute individuals suspected of international crimes, regardless of where those crimes were committed.

O tribunal afirmou que o delito de crimes contra a humanidade – introduzido na lei suíça em 2011 – não poderia ser aplicado a atos cometidos antes disso.

Kosiah’s conviction for violating the law of war was upheld, as was the maximum 20-year custodial sentence imposed.

Kosiah se estabeleceu na Suíça no final dos anos 1990 e foi preso em 2014.

Like war crimes, crimes against humanity refer to atrocities, including murder, torture and rape. However, instead of isolated or sporadic events, the charge is used for incidents carried out in a widespread or systematic way.

No veredicto de 2021, Kosiah foi considerado culpado de uma série de crimes de guerra cometidos como comandante do grupo rebelde United Liberation Movement of Liberia for Democracy.

He ordered or participated in the killing of 17 civilians and two unarmed soldiers, as well as rape and the deployment of a child soldier, the court ruled.

He had also ordered looting and repeatedly ordered, or had himself inflicted, cruel and humiliating treatment of civilians and mishandled corpses, according to the verdict.