Switzerland upholds Alieu Kosiah’s 20-year sentence
By the AFREEQUE newsroom, based on Front Page Africa
Switzerland’s Federal Supreme Court upholds Alieu Kosiah’s 20-year prison sentence for crimes committed in Liberia during the civil war, despite overturning his conviction for crimes against humanity. The decision makes final the first conviction of a Liberian for war crimes, according to Front Page Africa.
Switzerland’s Federal Supreme Court has upheld the 20-year prison sentence imposed on Alieu Kosiah, a former ULIMO commander in Liberia, for crimes committed in Lofa County during the civil war. The decision, made public on Friday, makes final the first conviction for war crimes handed down by a Swiss civilian court, Front Page Africa reports.
Alieu Kosiah was found guilty of killing civilians, rape, recruiting a child soldier, looting, cruel treatment and desecrating a victim’s body between 1993 and 1995. The Appeals Chamber of the Federal Criminal Court had found that these crimes alone would warrant 150 years in prison, but Swiss law limits the sentence to 20 years.
The Supreme Court, however, overturned the conviction for crimes against humanity added in 2023. It ruled that the provision introduced into Swiss law in 2011 could not apply to acts committed between 1993 and 1995. The decision changes neither the length of the sentence nor the expulsion from Switzerland planned after it is served.
Alain Werner, director of Civitas Maxima, the Geneva-based organisation representing the victims, welcomed the final conviction while regretting the dropping of the crimes against humanity charge. He said the survivors were obtaining justice more than 30 years after the events and 12 years after Kosiah’s arrest.
