Former Liberia warlord given 20 years' jail for war crimes

RFI
19 Jun 2021, 16:17 GMT+10

A Swiss court has handed a 20-year sentence to convicted warlord Alieu Kosiah, the first Liberian to be convicted of war crimes committed during the two civil wars between 1989 and 2003, where some 250,000 people died.

Kosiah, 46, was arrested in Switzerland in 2014, and found guilty of a number of atrocities by Switzerland's Federal Criminal Court in Bellinzona.

The former warlord denied the 25 charges, which include ordering or participating in the killing of civilians and soldiers, rape and use of a child soldier.

The commander of the United Liberation Movement of Liberia for Democracy (ULIMO) armed group was found guilty of 21 out of the 25 charges.

First for international justice: Finnish court opens war crimes trial in Liberia

How fair were Charles Taylor verdicts?

His 20-year sentence will subtract the more than six-and-a-half years spent in detention. The court also ordered him to be expelled from Swiss territory for 15 years after serving his sentence.

Although warlord and former Liberian president Charles Taylor was convicted in 2012 of war crimes during the civil wars, they were crimes carried out in neighbouring Sierra Leone.

Switzerland's judiciary operates under the principle of universal justice, which allows for international crimes trials to be tried in Switzerland, no matter where they were committed. The Koziah case was the first time the civilian court system heard an international war crime case.

Originally published on RFI

Watch latest videos

News RELEASES

Publish news of your business, community or sports group, personnel appointments, major event and more by submitting a news release to Sierra Leone Times.

More Information

null in null

Business

Section

G20 poverty summit struggles as key finance leaders skip meeting

No-shows, aid cuts mar G20 meet on global poverty

CAPE TOWN, South Africa: An international summit on global poverty faced setbacks this week as key finance leaders skipped the G20...

Home Depot sees sales rebound in Q4 after two-year slump

Home Depot snaps same-store sales slump in Q4 with demand improving

ATLANTA, Georgia: After two years of declining same-store sales, Home Depot finally saw a turnaround in the fourth quarter, fueled...

U.S. stocks rally despite Trump doubling-down on tariffs

Dow Jones closes up 601 points Friday, Nasdaq Composite 303 points

NEW YORK, New York - U.S. stocks rallied on Friday as economic data showed the U.S. Federal Reserve has likely tamed inflation. The...

Personal Consumption Expenditures price index in January improves slightly

Consumption index confirms U.S. inflation under control

WASHINGTON, DC - The U.S. Federal Reserve seemingly has inflation under control with the latest econbomic data confirming little push...

Arctic’s Svalbard Seed Vault to receive 14,000 new samples

Arctic doomsday seed vault gets more than 14,000 new samples

COPENHAGEN, Denmark: A remote Arctic facility designed to preserve the world's agricultural diversity is set to receive a major new...

BP shifts focus back to fossil fuels, scaling down renewable goals

BP to end renewables goals, return focus to fossil fuels

LONON, U.K.: British Petroleum is set to abandon its ambitious renewable energy expansion targets in favor of a stronger focus on fossil...

Africa

Section